Anthony Maurice Bone will become the sixth North Carolina death row inmate to have his sen­tence com­mut­ed to life in prison due to a 2001 state law ban­ning the exe­cu­tion of indi­vid­u­als with men­tal retar­da­tion. The state defines as men­tal­ly retard­ed any­one with an IQ of 70 or below who also has sig­nif­i­cant impair­ment in at least two of ten life activ­i­ties, such as com­mu­ni­cat­ing and tak­ing care of them­selves. The law requires that defen­dants show signs of retar­da­tion before they turn 18. The U.S. Supreme Court banned the exe­cu­tion of those with men­tal retar­da­tion in its 2002 Atkins v. Virginia rul­ing. (News & Record, December 10, 2003). See Mental Retardation.

Citation Guide