Just in time for Veterans Day, the Death Penalty Information Center released a report revealing that about 300 U.S. veterans are currently on death row in prisons across the nation. That means veterans represent about 10 percent of all inmates sentenced to capital punishment.

According to the Washington-based advocacy group, there are a high number of veterans on death row because the justice system has failed to take into account the impact post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other mental issues can have when they return from combat. The report suggests that judges, prosecutors and juries should take a veteran's PTSD into consideration when sentencing them -- even for heinous crimes and murders.

"Capital punishment stands out as a questionable punishment for those who have served in the military," said Richard C. Dieter, the center's senior programs director, reports the Los Angeles Times. "Even today, there are veterans on death row with PTSD that was unexplored at their trial or undervalued for its pernicious effects."

The group's Executive Director Robert Dunham added that "it is disturbing that so many veterans who were mentally and emotionally scarred while serving their country are now facing execution," NBC News reports.

While there is no data on how many have been diagnosed with PTSD or have symptoms, Dunham argues that in many cases, a veteran's mental trauma is not examined closely before they are put to death.

"The country owes its veterans a thorough examination of the use of the death penalty in their cases, even when their offenses are especially grievous," states the report.

On the other hand, Kent Scheidegger, legal director of the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation, argues that PTSD does not normally trigger someone to become violent. Therefore, the condition "may not have anything whatever to do with the crime," he said.

"If a crime is sufficiently heinous, a death sentence may be the just outcome. Mental issues may be weighed in the balance, but they would have to be very severe before they outweighed, say, torture or serial killing," added the pro-death penalty advocate.