11.   That is often the standard that officials give when they assert that no mentally retarded person has been executed in their states.

12.   The court also agreed to decide the longstanding question of whether capital punishment can be applied to mentally retarded persons.

13.   The debate about whether any mentally retarded person should be executed has intensified recently, as state governments and the Supreme Court are addressing the issue.

14.   The House is scheduled to debate a bill Monday that would ban the execution of mentally retarded persons.

15.   Then, only two states, Georgia and Maryland, outlawed death penalty for retarded persons.

16.   They include whether it is morally right to execute a retarded person, regardless of what he did.

17.   Today, there is an understanding that states must provide housing for every needy retarded person.

18.   When he vetoed the legislation that would have banned the execution of the mentally retarded, Perry said no mentally retarded person had ever been executed in Texas.

19.   A retarded person still could be sentenced to life in prison without parole for first-degree murder.

20.   Dr Ferdousi said old people and mentally retarded persons who are incapable of doing heavy physical labour could be employed for preserving medicinal plants.