Scheduled for Texas Execution: Jeff Wood, a Mentally Challenged Young Man

SOMETIMES YOUR CHILD could be with the wrong crowd.  His friends could do things and your kid might be charged for a crime right along with them.  Now imagine that your child has a mental disability.  It is easy to lead a young man with learning disabilities into a bad situation.  This happened to Jeff Wood, due for execution next week.  If executed, Jeff will be the first person killed in ten (10) years for committing a murder that the condemned man was not even present to witness!  Many people are working to save Jeff.

Jeff has had mental and learning disabilities dating back to his childhood, problems that made him easy to be taken advantage of, not only by the shooter, but also by the prosecution in his case.

Jeff is on Texas Death Row with an execution date of <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 />August 21, 2008.  He was charged under the Law of Parties, and was not the shooter in this crime, nor was he even in the building when the shooting took place.  Furthermore, there was no way Jeff could anticipate that a murder would occur. 

The actual shooter in this case, Daniel Reneau, has already been executed by the state of Texas.

In addition to the fact that Jeff did not commit or plan the murder, death penalty opponents maintain that there were several errors made at Jeff's trial, and as a direct result of these errors Jeff did not receive the fair trial he was entitled to.

For more information about Jeff's case, check out his website:
www.savejeffwood.com

Jeff Wood's supporters have published two petitions to save his life.  The first one is already closed in order to present it to the governor of Texas.  Signatures are being solicited for the second one at the link below:
 
http://www.thepetit ionsite.com/ 2/save-jeff- wood-from- the-executioner

People who care about the incarcerated mentally ill are participating in the effort to save Jeff Wood.

PsychCentral has posted ten psychology videos that highlight the problems faced by mental patients in America.
 
Top Ten Psychology Videos 

PsycCentral has posted its list of the ten best psychology videos available on the web. Below, we have posted links to the videos themselves. But if you want a quick description of each clip, then definitely read through the original post.

1. An Unquiet Mind: Personal Reflections on Manic-Depressive Illness

2. The Stanford Prison Experiment 

3. My Stroke of Insight  

4. The Paradox of Choice  

5. Trapped: Mental Illness in America’s Prisons  

6. Teen Brain  

7. Depression: Out of the Shadows  

8. Thin  

9. I Am Not Sick, I Don’t Need Help: Research on Poor Insight and How We Can Help  

10. The Psychology of Global Warming

Many human rights advocates are working together to build a bridge over troubled waters for America's 1.25 million mental patients currently imprisoned for crimes resulting from their disabilities.