Measuring Mental Disability and Death Penalty Cases
This past Monday the Supreme Court agreed to hear a Florida death penalty case that deals with how states determine whether a death row inmate is mentally disabled. In 2002, the Supreme Court ruled that it was unconstitutional for states to execute someone who is mentally disabled, as it violated the Eight Amendment’s restrictions on cruel and unusual punishment. However, it allowed the states some flexibility on how they determine whether someone was mentally disabled. Nine states (including Florida and Idaho) use an IQ score of 70 as a cutoff for a mental disability. They deem anyone who scores above Continue reading Measuring Mental Disability and Death Penalty Cases