The Supreme Court vacated a federal appeals court’s decision blocking a death row inmate’s execution, as he claims to be intellectually disabled.
The lower court has been ordered to issue a clearer ruling in the case.
Driving the news: Joseph Clifton Smith, convicted of capital murder in 1997, has taken five IQ tests, with four placing his IQ in the low- to mid-70s. A person with an IQ of 70 or lower is generally considered intellectually disabled.
- A federal judge in 2021 vacated Smith’s death sentence after determining that the error range of his lowest test could place his actual IQ below 70.
The big picture: The Supreme Court ordered the US Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit to clarify how multiple IQ scores should be evaluated in cases like Smith’s.
- Alabama, which seeks Smith’s execution, had been delaying the case, suggesting that the federal appeals court bent law and logic to bar Smith’s execution.
- The Supreme Court did not address past cases that set precedent for death penalty offenders with scores slightly above 70 and the interpretation of IQ tests within a range.
