Article archive / June 1, 2014
Originally published: . Volume 5, No. 10. Source pages: 6.
In a 5 to 4 decision on May 27, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states must not use a rigid cut-off score on IQ tests when it applies to the death penalty. The court’s decision gives greater protection to the death row inmates who might be ineligible for the death sentence based on intellectual disability. Currently some states, such as Florida, may execute an individual who scored 71 on an IQ but not a person scoring 70, in capital murder cases.
Justice Kennedy wrote, “Persons facing that most severe sanction must have a fair opportunity to show that the Constitution prohibits their execution. Florida’s law contravenes our nation’s commitment to dignity and its duty to teach human decency as the mark of a civilized world.” Kennedy pointed to a review from the American Psychological Association that said IQ tests should be read as a range of numbers rather than a specific figure.
Writing for those who disagreed, Justice Samuel Alito said that this would present a change from allowing states, not professionals, to make determinations.
This is the first review of state laws having to do with mental disability in capital cases since 2002, when the court found that executing intellectually disabled individuals was a violation of the U.S. Constitution’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment.
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