in 1985. Prior to his death, he was blind and had suffered a significant mental decline; he only remembered the alphabet up to the letter G and had slurred speech. The strokes caused physical damage as well, leaving him incontinent, unable to walk without a walker, and with slurred speech. However, according to the psychologist appointed by Alabama courts seeking his execution, he understood that he would be executed and the reason for that. On Saturday, February 22, 2020, Vernon Madison died while he was still on death row at Alabama's Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore. He was 69 years old. He was never executed. Officials did not cite a cause of death, but they did say that foul play was unlikely. News reports said shortly after his death that results of an autopsy were pending. Precedent In Ford v. Wainwright, the Supreme Court held in 1986 that executing the insane is not allowed due to the Eighth Amendment, and in Panetti v. Quarterman, they held in 2007 that to be sentenced to death, an inmate must understand "the meaning and purpose of" his death sentence. Case The Supreme Court decided to hear the case in February 2018. Oral arguments were held on October 2, 2018. At oral argument, Alabama Deputy Attorney General Thomas Govan surprised some observers as well as Justices by agreeing with defense counsel Bryan Stevenson that dementia could be a form of incapacitation sufficient to meet the Ford and Panetti standards prohibiting the execution of some incapacitated inmates. Govan argued only that Madison's condition did not meet those tests because he still had the cognitive ability to understand why he was being executed, even if he could not recall the crime. Stevenson argued that Madison was disabled beyond solely memory loss and thus his execution would violate the Eighth Amendment's prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment. Decision In a 5-3 opinion, authored by Justice Kagan, the Court held that the Eighth Amendment may permit executing a prisoner even if he or she cannot remember committing his or her crime, but it may prohibit executing a prisoner who suffers from dementia or another disorder, rather than psychotic delusions. The Court held that if a prisoner is unable to rationally understand the reasons for his sentence, the Eighth Amendment forbids his execution. Justice Alito in dissent, joined by Justice Thomas and Justice Gorsuch, would not have reached this