The Indiana Supreme Court has scheduled the execution of Joseph Corcoran, a Fort Wayne man convicted in the 1997 killings of four people, “before sunrise on December 18, 2024,” as stated in an order issued yesterday. The 49-year-old, who has been on death row since his conviction in 1999, will face the death penalty more than a decade after the state's last execution. Corcoran was found guilty of murdering his brother, his sister’s fiancé, and two friends, according to 96.3 XKE.

However, the announcement comes clouded in controversy over Corcoran's mental health, with his lawyers arguing that his "long-standing mental illness" should exempt him from execution. The ruling has ignited discussions over the constitutionality of executing those with mental illnesses, both on the state and on the federal level, as reported by FOX59.

Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb expressed his office's position in a statement, asserting that after securing pentobarbital, the drug needed for execution, the state is moving "to follow the law and move forward appropriately in this matter." Despite the hiatus, eight men currently on Indiana's death row have exhausted all their appeals, including Corcoran, which has led officials like Attorney General Todd Rokita to advocate for resuming executions to uphold "justice for victims of society’s most heinous crimes," as obtained by 96.3 XKE.

Opposition from Corcoran's attorneys centers around his diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia, with strong emphasis on his mental condition being a basis for reconsideration of capital punishment. "The Indiana Department of Correction is prepared to carry out the lawfully imposed sentence," stated Attorney General Rokita, as the state moves forward with the execution process amidst these concerns, 96.3 XKE reported.

Indiana has not seen an execution since 2009, with the upcoming date marking a significant moment in the state's criminal justice history.