Supreme Court Declines to Hear Death Penalty Case on Mental Disabilities
The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed the case of Joseph Clifton Smith on procedural grounds. The decision leaves unresolved what standards states should use to assess intellectual disabilities in death penalty cases.
The Washington PostThe Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed the case of Joseph Clifton Smith on procedural grounds. The majority did not address what standards states should use to determine whether a person who commits a crime must be spared the death penalty because of intellectual disabilities.
The case involved Joseph Clifton Smith, whose mental faculties fall near the threshold for exemption from capital punishment.
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States retain current practices for evaluating intellectual disabilities in death penalty cases.
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