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McCRORY TO ANNOUNCE MEDICAID SYSTEM OVERHAUL: Gov. Pat McCrory rejected a Medicaid expansion earlier this year saying the system was broken and Wednesday morning he is expected to describe how he plans to fix it. The Republican has talked frequently about the rising costs of the healthcare system for select low-income and disabled residents and issued a video preview Tuesday saying he would create a "partnership" that will help keep costs low. Check Dome later today for more details from the 10 a.m. press conference.

***It's a jam-packed day in North Carolina politics. Get the full scoop on all the big stories from the Dome Morning Memo below. Send tips and news to dome@newsobserver.com.***

A bill aims to keep the severely mentally ill off Death Row.

State Rep. Verla Insko filed a bill this week that would prevent prosecutors from giving the death penalty to people who were not able to understand their crime due to a severe mental illness.

Under the bill, a hearing would be held on the defendant's mental health before the trial, rather than after. Insko said that would cut down on post-sentencing litigation.

Although some other states list the specific illnesses, Insko said her proposal was actually narrower because it only says that the defendant had to be incapable of understanding what they were doing at the time of the crime.

She pointed out that some people with bipolar disorder or schizophrenia, for example, could understand the consequences of a crime if they were properly medicated.

The Chapel Hill Democrat said that she believes the bill would only affect one or two capital punishment cases a year.

A 2001 bill prohibited the death penalty for the mentally retarded. 

A coalition of advocates for the mentally ill and a state Superior Court judge spoke in favor today of legislation that would exclude the severely mentally ill from the death penalty.

Draft legislation introduced at a joint legislative committee today would allow a judge to determine that a defendant suffered from severe mental illness at the time of the killing. The defendant would still face a murder trial, but the worst punishment would be life without parole, Dan Kane reports.

Advocates of the legislation say it would only apply to those with severe mental illnesses such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, or from severe brain injuries. Those whose criminal acts were the result of drug or alcohol abuse would not be eligible.

"We're talking about individuals whose distortion of thinking is so severe that it's difficult for us to imagine," said James Ellis, a University of New Mexico law professor who successfully argued to the U.S. Supreme Court several years ago that the mentally retarded should not be executed.

More after the jump.

A Superior Court judge has ordered a Halifax County man off death row.

Judge John R. Jolly Jr. found that Clinton Cebert Smith is mentally retarded and therefore not capable of understanding his actions. A jury found a decade ago that Smith laced cherry Kool-Aid with a pesticide, leading to the death of his six-year-old daughter.

Smith is the 14th person removed from the state's death row for mental retardation, according to the Center for Death Penalty Litigation. A change in state law in 2001 prohibited the state from executing mentally disabled people.

The following year, the U.S. Supreme Court outlawed executing those with mental retardation.

Smith's lawyers say the ruling is another sign of his innocence in a case they say has been twisted by hidden evidence, misleading testimony and inadequate representation. They are now hoping appelate judges will award him a new trial. (N&O)

Before we get to the roundup of Day 3 of Speed Week, here's what we've already covered on Wednesday:

Approved: A House bill would require equal insurance coverage for mental illnesses, a House bill would allow death row defendants to appeal on the basis of racial discrimination, a House bill would study the future of Dix Hill, a House bill would require politicians reveal donors to legal defense funds, a House bill would teach high schoolers about the state's safe surrender law and a House bill would allow Chapel Hill to experiment with publicly funded campaign.

Tentatively Approved: A House bill that would make schools write anti-bullying policies.

Rejected: A House bill that would have banned corporal punishment in schools and a House bill that would have raised the limit of undisclosed campaign contributions back to $100.

A Senate bill would allow the mentally ill to avoid the death penalty in some cases.

Sen. Ellie Kinnaird, a Carrboro Democrat, said the legislation is necessary to help defendants who were incapable of understanding their actions.

They would still be eligible for life in prison, however.

Advocates praised the legislation:

"These people probably have no real understanding of what occurred," said Julia Leggett, a lobbyist for the Alliance for Disability Advocates.

But prosecutors say the measure is too broad, arguing that defense attorneys would simply hire a psychiatrist to make a diagnosis. (N&O)