Stephen Bright, teaching Yale's course Capital Punishment: Race, Poverty, and Disadvantage, examines the constitutional doctrine barring execution of a prisoner who cannot understand the nature of the penalty or its connection to the crime committed. The segment traces how a death row inmate's mental competency can deteriorate in the years between sentencing and the scheduled execution date, and how courts have handled claims that a prisoner no longer comprehends why the state is putting him to death. Bright works through the constitutional prohibition and its underlying rationale, that punishment is meaningless to someone unable to grasp its purpose, drawing on case law and the class readings assigned for the session. Part of a lecture series on capital punishment law, the segment runs alongside broader course material on race, poverty, and disadvantage in the American death penalty system.