USA - North Carolina. House lawmakers approved legislation to prevent a murder suspect or death row prisoner with severe mental illness from facing capital punishment.

North Carolina House lawmakers again have narrowly approved legislation designed to prevent a murder suspect or death row prisoner with severe mental illness from facing capital punishment. A House appropriations subcommittee voted 5-4 today in favor of creating a process whereby the death penalty would be removed as a sentencing option for a murder defendant with a severe mental disability. The maximum penalty would be life in prison without parole. The measure passed a judiciary committee last week and now heads to the House floor.