{"id":2605521,"date":"2026-05-21T13:38:01","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T17:38:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/high-court-decision-on-death-row-iq-case-will-spare-prisoners-life\/"},"modified":"2026-05-21T13:41:49","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T17:41:49","slug":"high-court-decision-on-death-row-iq-case-will-spare-prisoners-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/high-court-decision-on-death-row-iq-case-will-spare-prisoners-life\/","title":{"rendered":"High court decision on death row IQ case will spare prisoner&#8217;s life"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fhigh-court-decision-on-death-row-iq-case-will-spare-prisoners-life%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2605521&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The U.S.Supreme Court dismissed a death-penalty case involving whether a person is intellectually disabled under the *Atkins v. Virginia* standard, leaving an Alabama inmate off the execution schedule. In *Hamm v. Smith*, the Court said it had mistakenly agreed to hear the case and therefore declined to decide the merits, wich means the lower court\u2019s ruling stayed in place.<\/p>\n<p>Justice Sonia Sotomayor,joined by Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson,concurred with the dismissal,arguing the Court was right not to use the case to spell out how courts should handle multiple IQ scores in light of existing precedent and medical expertise. Justices Clarence thomas and Samuel Alito each dissented; Alito\u2019s dissent was the principal one, criticizing what he viewed as confusion in lower courts about how to treat multiple IQ results for *Atkins* eligibility. Thomas also argued that *Atkins* should be overruled, calling it unworkable and unsupported by the Constitution.<\/p>\n<p>The underlying dispute centered on Joseph Smith\u2019s IQ testing: Alabama law generally requires an IQ of 70 or below (along with adaptive deficits beginning in childhood). Although Smith\u2019s different IQ scores ranged from the low to high 70s (none at or below 70), the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-disgruntled-fishermen-could-prompt-scotus-to-capsize-the-administrative-state\/\" title=\"Fishermen&#039;s discontent may lead SCOTUS to overturn the Administrative State\">lower courts concluded<\/a> that the margin-of-error approach supported treating him as meeting the threshold, making him ineligible for execution.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<article class=\"fn-body\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/section\/supreme-court\/\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/section\/supreme-court\/\">Supreme Court<\/a> dismissed a case on Thursday about how to consider intelligence tests when evaluating if a person is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/high-court-weighs-how-iq-scores-should-play-into-death-penalty\/\" title=\"... weighs how ... should play into ...\">sufficiently intellectually disabled<\/a> to be disqualified from the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/death-penalty\/\">death penalty<\/a>, effectively sparing a death row inmate in <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/alabama\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"1172\">Alabama<\/a> from execution.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/what-other-judicial-outrage-must-we-endure-dems-call-for-expanding-scotus-after-string-of-losses\/\" title=\"\u2018What Other Judicial Outrage Must We Endure?\u2019: Dems Call For Expanding SCOTUS After String Of Losses\">high court issued<\/a> a brief <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.supremecourt.gov\/opinions\/25pdf\/24-872_ec8f.pdf\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/www.supremecourt.gov\/opinions\/25pdf\/24-872_ec8f.pdf\">per curiam ruling<\/a>, saying it had improperly granted review in <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/supreme-court\/3913327\/supreme-court-multiple-iq-scores-death-penalty-eligibility\/\">Hamm v. Smith<\/a><\/em>  and declining to issue a ruling on the merits. The brief unsigned ruling was accompanied by multiple opinions agreeing and disagreeing with the order, with Justice <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/sonia-sotomayor\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"1921\">Sonia Sotomayor<\/a> writing a concurring opinion, joined by Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, in which she said the high court was correct in declining to use this case to \u201caddress how courts must analyze multiple IQ scores under\u201d its standard for the death penalty regarding intellectually disabled persons.<\/p>\n<section class=\"explore-more-section\" id=\"wex-recommended-widget\">\n<div class=\"magazine-container single\">\n<h1 class=\"magazine-title mt-2\">Recommended Stories<\/h1>\n<p>             <i class=\"fa-solid fa-play icon\"><\/i>         <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-grid\">\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/supreme-court\/4562772\/major-supreme-court-decisions-remainder-term\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>The major Supreme Court decisions remaining for this term<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/supreme-court\/4572489\/supreme-court-does-title-ix-discrimination-protections-include-employees\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Supreme Court to decide if Title IX discrimination protections include employees<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/supreme-court\/4572406\/supreme-court-tosses-racial-redistricting-rulings-mississippi-north-dakota\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Supreme Court tosses racial redistricting rulings in Mississippi and North Dakota<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIn cases presenting multiple IQ scores, courts should continue to consider multiple IQ scores in light of this Court\u2019s precedents and the views of medical experts. If a conflict among the States or lower courts emerges and a case properly presents the issue, it may be appropriate for this Court to weigh in with more specific guidance about the permissible method or methods by which courts must analyze such scores. The Court rightly decides that it is inappropriate to do so in this case,\u201d Sotomayor wrote.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The case centered on Joseph\u00a0Smith, who was sentenced to death after being found guilty of murder in 1997. He challenged the capital punishment under the<em> <\/em>standard set by the 2002 Supreme Court ruling in <em>Atkins v. Virginia<\/em>, which\u00a0found that the death penalty, if used against people with intellectual disabilities, amounts to cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment. Smith argued he is intellectually disabled and ineligible to be put to death.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Alabama law requires an inmate to show they have an IQ of 70 or below, along with deficits in adaptive behavior and evidence that these deficits began in childhood. Despite five IQ results showing Smith scoring between 72 and 78, a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/woke-activists-in-the-workplace-are-sparking-a-surge-in-free-speech-cases\/\" title=\"Woke Activists In The Workplace Are Sparking A Surge In Free Speech ...s\">federal district court ruled<\/a> that the margin of error should mean that IQ scores between 70 and 75 should meet the <em>Atkins<\/em> standard. A federal appeals court upheld the ruling, leading Alabama to the Supreme Court. The high court\u2019s decision to dismiss the case leaves the lower court ruling in place, which makes Smith ineligible for the death penalty.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Justices Clarence Thomas and <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/samuel-alito\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"1232\">Samuel Alito<\/a> each wrote their own dissenting opinions. Alito\u2019s opinion was the principal dissent, being joined in full by Thomas and partially joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Neil Gorsuch. Alito wrote that the high court should have issued a ruling in the case, bemoaning the \u201cconfusion and unsound analysis in lower courts\u201d on how to handle multiple IQ scores for determining the eligibility of the death penalty for an inmate.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI respectfully dissent from the Court\u2019s decision to leave this important question unanswered. At the very least, we should reverse the lower courts\u2019 erroneous analysis of Smith\u2019s scores and remand for a fresh consideration of his Atkins claim using any sound method. Even if our decision went no further, we would provide clarity and coherence to one aspect of our Atkins doctrine,\u201d Alito wrote. \u201cInstead, the Court shies away from its obligation to provide workable rules for capital cases. In doing so, the Court disserves its own death-penalty jurisprudence, States\u2019 criminal-justice systems, lower courts, and victims of horrific murders.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Roberts and Gorsuch joined all parts of Alito\u2019s opinion except the one in which he explained why he would have reversed the lower court\u2019s ruling and found \u201cthey relied on psychologically, statistically, and legally unsound analyses to conclude that Smith\u2019s IQ is 70 or below.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/clarence-thomas\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"1048\">Thomas<\/a> joined Alito\u2019s dissent in full, but also wrote his own dissenting opinion in which he argued that the Supreme Court\u2019s 2002 ruling in <em>Atkins<\/em> should be overruled, saying the decision has \u201cbred only confusion and absurdity\u201d and that \u201cnothing in the text or history of the Constitution supports\u201d it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201c<em>Atkins<\/em> also cannot survive this Court\u2019s more <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >recent stare decisis criteria<\/a> because it is egregiously wrong, unworkable, and has created no legitimate reliance interests. Atkins is demonstrably erroneous. It is irreconcilable with the Eighth Amendment\u2019s original meaning, and nothing in the common law supports it,\u201d Thomas wrote.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thomas also wrote that the high court \u201crewarded\u201d Smith\u2019s effort to avoid the death penalty by pushing an <em>Atkins<\/em> claim despite him not being \u201cinsufficiently intelligent to be executed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHe can read at an 11th grade level. He took five IQ tests and did not once receive a score of 70 or below, instead scoring 75, 74, 72, 78, and 74. The lower courts held that he could not be executed based only on the hypothetical possibility that these IQ scores were all wrong and that his IQ is in fact 70 or below. I join Justice Alito\u2019s opinion because it persuasively explains why that approach is statistically indefensible,\u201d Thomas wrote.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/supreme-court\/4562772\/major-supreme-court-decisions-remainder-term\/\" type=\"post\" id=\"4562772\">THE MAJOR SUPREME COURT DECISIONS REMAINING FOR THIS TERM<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Supreme Court\u2019s decision to dismiss the case means the justices have punted on offering further guidance over the scope of the <em>Atkins<\/em> standard for executions of people who claim to be intellectually disabled and have taken multiple IQ tests. The issue could present itself in a future petition to the Supreme Court, but it is unknown when that would occur.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The high court will issue its rulings in the 30 remaining cases of the current term over the coming weeks, with all rulings expected to be released by the end of June.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Supreme Court dismissed a death-penalty IQ case, sparing an Alabama inmate<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2638,"featured_media":2605522,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/AP26138777046488.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[72882,73787,80069,80070,12447],"class_list":["post-2605521","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-death-penalty-2","tag-high-court-2","tag-iq-test","tag-legal-decision-2","tag-sentencing"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/AP26138777046488.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2605521","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2638"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2605521"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2605521\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2605525,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2605521\/revisions\/2605525"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2605522"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2605521"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2605521"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2605521"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}