The argument begins with the facts and the decision in the Penry case in which the United States Supreme Court held that convicted capital offenders with mental retardation may be executed as long as judges and juries consider their mental retardation in arriving at the death sentence. Subsequent chapters present theoretical arguments against the death penalty for offenders with mental retardation; recount the stories of 12 mentally retarded offenders who were executed for crimes of murder as well as some whose death sentences subsequently were commuted, pardoned, or thrown out by the courts; the characteristics of both the pardoned and the executed; and legislative initiatives to abolish the death penalty for offenders with mental retardation. 34 figures and 1,518 footnotes