After 28 Years, Judge Spares Life of Inmate With Mental Disabilities

Edward Lee Elmore, South Carolina’s longest-serv­ing death row inmate, was spared from exe­cu­tion when a state cir­cuit court ruled he suf­fered from men­tal retar­da­tion. The sen­tence rever­sal came almost 28 years after Elmore was sent to death row in 1982 for a sex­u­al assault and mur­der, and 8 years after the U.S. Supreme Court held in Atkins v. Virginia that the exe­cu­tion of the men­tal­ly retard­ed is a cru­el and unusu­al pun­ish­ment, and there­fore vio­lates the Eighth Amendment. The deci­sion left defin­ing ​“men­tal­ly retard­ed” to indi­vid­ual states. Elmore failed and repeat­ed first grade twice, failed and com­plet­ed sec­ond grade once, and did not fin­ish third grade until he was 12. He then with­drew from fifth grade when he was 15. In 1971, at age 12, Elmore’s IQ test­ed at 72 and 58 on separate tests.

(C. Peters, ​“Judge spares longest-serv­ing death row inmate,” Spartanburg Herald Journal, February 5, 2010). See also Mental Retardation and Time on Death Row.