The supreme court will soon rule on Hamm v Smith, an Alabama death penalty case that could significantly increase the number of people with intellectual disability who are executed. In this case, Alabama is fighting to execute a man named Joseph Smith. Smith’s five IQ scores – 72, 74, 74, 75 and 78 – all fall around the bottom fifth percentile of the population.
Based on these IQ tests, which measure learning, reasoning and problem-solving, and Smith’s adaptive behaviors, which include the social and practical skills that Smith uses to navigate everyday life, a federal court determined that Smith is intellectually disabled. Because the supreme court held in its landmark 2002 Atkins ruling that executing anyone with an intellectual disability violates the constitution, Alabama cannot execute Smith.
But Alabama disagreed with this decision, even though empirical standards put the IQ threshold for intellectual disability between 70 and 75. Yes, Alabama wants to execute Smith. But the case could also create a new, dangerous protocol: when a capital defendant has taken multiple IQ tests, any score above 70 could close the door an intellectual disability claim.
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