21.   Seventeen states passed laws providing inmates with access to DNA testing, while five banned the execution of the mentally retarded.

22.   Seventeen states enacted laws granting inmates access to post-conviction DNA testing, while another five states banned the execution of mentally retarded inmates.

23.   State lawmakers approved a bill Saturday that would ban the execution of murderers who are mentally retarded, but the bill faces an uncertain future.

24.   Such executions are also banned in federally prosecuted cases.

25.   Such was the case recently when Gov. Rick Perry vetoed a bill that would have banned the execution of the retarded.

26.   The case became moot when North Carolina banned the execution of the mentally retarded, and the court agreed to hear the Atkins case in its place.

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

28.   The Legislature also approved legislation to ban the execution of the mentally retarded, although it could still be vetoed by Perry.

29.   The legislature could then pass the bill banning such executions in its next session.

30.   The other will determine whether to ban the executions of mentally retarded killers.