John Q. Hamm, Commissioner, Alabama Department of Corrections, Petitioner v. Joseph Clifton Smith

The Supreme Court released a decision in a death penalty case about how courts should assess several IQ test results when deciding whether a person is intellectually disabled under Atkins v. Virginia. The dispute centered on how to weigh mixed scores when some results may support an intellectual disability claim and others may not.

The Court decided the case, but the prompt does not provide the vote count or opinion lineup.

Majority

Sotomayor

Jackson

Dissent

Thomas

Alito

Roberts

Gorsuch

The ruling affects capital cases in which a defendant has taken multiple IQ tests with different results. It matters for death row prisoners, state courts, and corrections officials who must apply the Eighth Amendment bar on executing intellectually disabled people.

Lower courts and state officials must now apply the Supreme Court's instructions in cases involving mixed IQ test results. Lawyers in pending death penalty cases will likely cite this decision as they litigate intellectual disability claims.

The case asked how courts should evaluate several IQ tests with different results. The question was how those scores should be considered under Atkins v. Virginia.

Death row prisoners raising intellectual disability claims are directly affected. State trial courts, appellate courts, and corrections agencies also must follow the Court's new guidance.

Lower courts must apply the new rule in this and similar cases. Attorneys and judges will use the decision in future disputes over mixed IQ test results.