Military Veterans and the Death Penalty

Manny Babbitt before being executed in the gas chamber in California in 1999 Manny Babbitt as a Marine

Andrew Brannan in Vietnam Andrew Brannan before being executed in Georgia in 2015

Leonel Herrera, a Vietnam Vet with PTSD, was executed in Texas in 1993, after being denied a hearing on innocence by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Louis Jones was a Gulf War Vet with PTSD Louis Jones was a Gulf War Vet with PTSD. He is one of three defendants executed under the Federal death penalty in the modern era.

Robert Fisher, a Vietnam Vet with PTSD, remains on Pennsylvania’s death row. He received the Purple Heart from President Lyndon Johnson in 1967.

James Davis is a Vietnam Vet with PTSD James Davis is a Vietnam Vet with PTSD. He remains on death row in North Carolina. He finally received his combat medals while on death row.

George Porter is a Korean War combat veteran with PTSD, sentenced to death in Florida. The Supreme Court overturned Porter’s death sentence because of ineffectiveness of counsel in failing to investigate his military service.

Nobody seems to know how many vets are on death row or how many have been executed. A DPIC survey revealed about 10% of death row inmates are vets. Nobody knows how many death row inmates suffer from severe mental illness. BJS found that over 18% of those serving life have a history of mental illness.