Intellectual Disability and the Death Penalty, With Law Professor John Blume

As the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to hear oral argument in Moore v. Texas and consider the constitutionality of the state’s approach to deciding whether a defendant is intellectually disabled, Cornell Law School Professor John Blume joins us to share his expertise on intellectual disability and the death penalty. He provides context on the Supreme Court’s 2002 decision, Atkins v. Virginia, which banned the execution of defendants with intellectual disabilities, and describes the clinical criteria used in most determinations of intellectual disability. In the second half of the conversation, Professor Blume explains Texas’ idiosyncratic method for determining intellectual disability, the background of the Moore case, and how the Court’s decision in Moore may affect the death penalty system in Texas and other states.