From the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty:

Eight executions are scheduled to take place in the next 16 days, including the executions of at least three people with severe mental illness and three people whose lawyers performed abysmally at trial. Five are scheduled during a nine-day period in Texas, and two are set for Dec. 10, International Human Rights Day.

"The scheduled executions in Texas, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia follow a disturbing but familiar pattern," said Brian Roberts, executive director of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. "At a time when Americans are beginning to take a hard look at who is sentenced to death, these states are failing to meet even the lowest constitutional bar in carrying out executions.

Simply put, people with severe mental illness or ineffective lawyers should not be eligible for execution in any humane and civilized society."