The U.S. Supreme Court will begin its 2014 – 15 term on October 6. One of the cases the Court will hear during its first month is Jennings v. Stephens, a Texas death penalty case involving ineffectiveness of counsel and whether a separate appeal is necessary for each such claim. Oral arguments will take place on October 15. The Court has been asked to review an appeal from Scott Panetti, another death row inmate from Texas, who may be mentally incompetent. Last year, the Supreme Court struck down Florida’s strict IQ cutoff for determining intellectual disability. In that case, Hall v. Florida, the Court concluded that “Florida’s law contravenes our Nation’s commitment to dignity and its duty to teach human decency as the mark of a civilized world.”
(DPIC, October 3, 2014). See U.S. Supreme Court, Intellectual Disability, Mental Illness, and Representation.
- Death Penalty Information Center (2025, March 14). Supreme Court Begins New Term with at Least One Capital Case. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/supreme-court-begins-new-term-with-at-least-one-capital-case
- Death Penalty Information Center. “Supreme Court Begins New Term with at Least One Capital Case.” Last modified March 14, 2025. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/supreme-court-begins-new-term-with-at-least-one-capital-case.
- Death Penalty Information Center. “Supreme Court Begins New Term with at Least One Capital Case.” Death Penalty Information Center, 14 Mar. 2025, https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/supreme-court-begins-new-term-with-at-least-one-capital-case. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.
