Our prison system is broken

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/texas-execution-stayed-amid-mental-health-dispute/

The execution of convicted murderer Scott Panetti has been halted on an appeal of mental illness. Panetti's lawyers say he is too delusional to qualify for capital punishment and have been trying to get Panetti a new competency test. There have also been other appeals to the Supreme Court, saying that mentally ill people cannot be executed if they cannot understand why they are being punished. Critics have said that Panetti's mental state has not change much since he was given his last competency test, and no court has found him insane. In 2002 , justices prohibited the execution of the mentally impaired, but 5 years later they said the mentally ill could be put to death if they understood why they were being punished. Panetti was sentenced and convicted in 1995 for the murder of his estranged wife's parents. In court he was his own lawyer, dressed in a purple cowboy outfit, and attempted to subpoena over 200 witnesses including Jesus and the pope. He also claims that Satan is working through the justice system to try and get him executed for preaching the Gospel.

I think that if this guy really is mentally ill and does not understand completely why he's being punished, then he shouldn't be given the death penalty. Capital punishment, I think, should really only be reserved for really dangerous killers who cannot be redeemed. I'm a huge believer in trying to reform prisoners and give them the help they need so that they don't resort to crime once they're released. I don't think that locking people up and treating them poorly is going to make anything better, especially in the case of mentally ill prisoners. If a prisoner has a broken leg or a heart problem when they come in, the prison will take them to a medical facility to treat that. Why isn't is the same for the mentally ill? Why are they locked up and punished for things they can't control? We should be helping these people, not condemning them to death.