An execution date has been set for Indiana death row prisoner Joseph Corcoran on December 18, 2024 for the 1997 murders of James Corcoran, Douglas A. Stillwell, Scott Turner and Timothy Bricker.

Now is the time to call Governor Holcomb's office at 317-232-4567 to ask that he show mercy by not executing a severely mentally ill man when do so will not keep us any safer than incarceration, and incarceration until death is holding him severely accountable to his crimes.

Indiana is set to execute Joseph Edward Corcoran on December 18, 2024, for the 1997 quadruple murder of his brother, his sister’s fiancé, and two other men. Joseph is also suspected of murdering his parents years prior, although there is no direct evidence linking him to the case.

Like many condemned inmates, Joseph has a mental disability. He suffers from paranoid schizophrenia, which can cause him to experience severe delusions and hallucinations. Although Joseph initially waived any legal reviews of his conviction and sentence, stating that he should be put to death, he later recanted.

The courts still had to determine whether he was competent to make that decision. In 1986, the Supreme Court ruled that sentencing a criminally insane defendant to death would violate the Eighth Amendment, and that convicted defendants must be evaluated for competency before their death sentence is carried out. What does it mean to be competent in the eyes of the law? There is no clearly defined standard or test to measure a defendant’s understanding of their death sentence.

In Joseph’s case, the State used precedent in an attempt to determine his competency. It was evaluated based on ‘his present ability to consult with his lawyer with a reasonable degree of rational understanding’, ‘his rational and factual understanding of the proceedings against him’, and ‘his capacity to appreciate his position and make a rational choice with respect to continuing or abandoning further litigation’. Simply put, Joseph must have a clear understanding of the significance of his death sentenc and the ability to weigh his options and alternatives rationally. But is there anything rational about submitting yourself to a state-sanctioned death?

Indiana has executed nineteen people since 1977. After over a decade of no executions, the state had reached a de facto moratorium, meaning that, while the death penalty is still technically legal, it is not currently being used. In December 2024, Joseph will be the first inmate to be executed since 2009—a futile step backward.

While the vast majority of states with capital punishment continue on a downward trend of executions, Indiana is going against the trend by scheduling its first execution since 2009. Please sign the petition asking Governor Holcomb to do everything within his power to stop this execution, including issuing a stay, and seeking a path to clemency in the case.