R.I.P. Milton Mathis

Roman Colosseum lit to protest an execution

On June 21, 2011, Texas executed Milton Mathis for a 1998 shooting that killed Travis Brown III and Daniel Hibbard.  Mathis was put to death despite substantial evidence that he suffered from mental disabilities that should have rendered his execution unconstitutional.  Intelligence tests, including one given by the Texas Department of Corrections in 2000, measured Mathis's IQ in the low 60s, well below the threshold for mental retardation.

This is the 23rd execution in the United States in 2011, the sixth in Texas.  Mathis is the 12th African American to be executed this year.