Supreme Court decision on death row IQ case will spare prisoner’s life
The Supreme Court dismissed a case regarding the evaluation of intelligence tests for death penalty eligibility, effectively sparing an Alabama inmate from execution. The ruling left in place a lower court's decision that found the inmate, Joseph Smith, ineligible for the death penalty based on his IQ scores. Dissenting justices expressed concern over the lack of clarity in how courts should analyze multiple IQ scores in such cases.
- ▪The Supreme Court dismissed the case Hamm v. Smith, sparing death row inmate Joseph Smith from execution.
- ▪Smith's eligibility for the death penalty was determined by a lower court based on his IQ scores, which ranged from 72 to 78.
- ▪Dissenting opinions from Justices Alito and Thomas criticized the Court for not providing clearer guidelines on evaluating IQ scores in death penalty cases.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
The Supreme Court dismissed a case on Thursday about how to consider intelligence tests when evaluating if a person is sufficiently intellectually disabled to be disqualified from the death penalty, effectively sparing a death row inmate in Alabama from execution. The high court issued a brief per curiam ruling, saying it had improperly granted review in Hamm v. Smith and declining to issue a ruling on the merits. The brief unsigned ruling was accompanied by multiple opinions agreeing and disagreeing with the order, with Justice Sonia Sotomayor writing a concurring opinion, joined by Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, in which she said the high court was correct in declining to use this case to “address how courts must analyze multiple IQ scores under” its standard for the death penalty…
Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Washington Examiner.
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