Supreme Court hears Alabama intellectual disability execution case
The U.S. Supreme Court is hearing Alabama’s appeal to execute Joseph Clifton Smith, a death‑row inmate whom lower courts found intellectually disabled, with arguments beginning at 10 a.m. EST in Washington on Dec. 10, 2025. The case tests how courts should evaluate borderline IQ scores (Smith scored 72–78) and whether a “holistic” approach beyond IQ is required under prior Supreme Court precedents, with Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall and U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer backing the state’s position.
📌 Key Facts
- Smith’s five IQ tests ranged from 72 to 78; lower courts found him intellectually disabled and ineligible for execution.
- SCOTUS precedents: Atkins (2002) barred executing the intellectually disabled; 2014 and 2017 rulings require considering evidence beyond raw IQ in borderline cases.
- Alabama AG Steve Marshall and the Trump administration’s Solicitor General D. John Sauer argue Smith did not meet the burden of proving an IQ of 70 or below.
📊 Analysis & Commentary (1)
"The column critiques and satirizes the Supreme Court’s arguments in the Alabama intellectual‑disability execution case, arguing the justices are mired in an odd, consequential debate over borderline IQ scores and whether defendants can be judged 'too stupid' to manipulate test results — a doctrinally important dispute with big effects on death‑penalty law."