On September 27, 2023, United States District Court Judge Robert Pitman of the Western District of Texas issued an opinion and order ruling that Scott Panetti's execution would violate the Eighth Amendment because he lacks a rational understanding of the connection between his offense and his sentence of death. It was undisputed that Mr. Panetti is severely mentally ill, suffering from chronic schizophrenia for over forty years. Although he appeared to factually understand that he is to be executed and the State’s stated reasons for such, i.e., his capital murder conviction, he maintained persecutory delusions about the "real" reasons Texas intended to put him to death: (1) to cover up the conspiracy he uncovered concerning pedophilia, corruption, and drug trafficking, and (2) to prevent him from preaching and “saving souls.”