A recent law review arti­cle report­ed wide vari­a­tions among states in exempt­ing defen­dants with intel­lec­tu­al dis­abil­i­ty from the death penal­ty. Professor John Blume (l.) of Cornell Law School, along with three co-authors, ana­lyzed claims filed under the Supreme Court’s deci­sion in Atkins v. Virginia (2002) against exe­cut­ing defen­dants with intel­lec­tu­al dis­abil­i­ty (for­mer­ly, ​“men­tal retar­da­tion”). Overall, from 2002 through 2013, only about 7.7% (371) of death row inmates or cap­i­tal defen­dants have raised claims of intel­lec­tu­al dis­abil­i­ty. The total ​“suc­cess” rate for such claims was 55%. In North Carolina, the suc­cess rate was 82%, and in Mississippi 57%. However, in Georgia (where Warren Hill was recent­ly exe­cut­ed), the suc­cess rate for those claim­ing this dis­abil­i­ty was only 11%, and in Florida, the suc­cess rate was zero. The authors found that states that sig­nif­i­cant­ly devi­at­ed from accept­ed clin­i­cal meth­ods for deter­min­ing intel­lec­tu­al dis­abil­i­ty, such as Florida, Alabama, Georgia, and Texas, had the low­est suc­cess rates. To pre­serve equal pro­tec­tion under the law, the authors rec­om­mend­ed the Supreme Court strike down aber­rant prac­tices in iso­lat­ed states, just as it struck down Florida’s strict IQ cut­off.

(J. Blume, et al., ​“A TALE OF TWO (AND POSSIBLY THREE) ATKINS: INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY AND CAPITAL PUNISHMENT TWELVE YEARS AFTER THE SUPREME COURT’S CREATION OF A CATEGORICAL BAR,” 23 William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal 393 (2014)). See Law Reviews, Studies, Intellectual Disability.

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