Source: https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_DN_0000_8452_ZO.html
Timestamp: 2017-01-17 21:30:16
Document Index: 106753347

Matched Legal Cases: ['§17', '§7001', '§ 848', '§ 3596', 'Art. 27', '§412', '§532', '§39', '§31', '§5', '§16', '§10', '§35', '§21', '§400', '§400', '§28', '§23', '§53', '§921', '§565', '§45', '§35']

Atkins v. Virginia (00-8452)
Justice Stevens delivered the opinion of the Court. Those mentally retarded persons who meet the law’s requirements for criminal responsibility should be tried and punished when they commit crimes. Because of their disabilities in areas of reasoning, judgment, and control of their impulses, however, they do not act with the level of moral culpability that characterizes the most serious adult criminal conduct. Moreover, their impairments can jeopardize the reliability and fairness of capital proceedings against mentally retarded defendants. Presumably for these reasons, in the 13 years since we decided Penry v. Lynaugh, 492 U.S. 302 (1989), the American public, legislators, scholars, and judges have deliberated over the question whether the death penalty should ever be imposed on a mentally retarded criminal. The consensus reflected in those deliberations informs our answer to the question presented by this case: whether such executions are “cruel and unusual punishments” prohibited by the Eighth Amendment to the Federal Constitution.
1. Initially, both Jones and Atkins were indicted for capital murder. The prosecution ultimately permitted Jones to plead guilty to first-degree murder in exchange for his testimony against Atkins. As a result of the plea, Jones became ineligible to receive the death penalty. 2. Highly damaging to the credibility of Atkins’ testimony was its substantial inconsistency with the statement he gave to the police upon his arrest. Jones, in contrast, had declined to make an initial statement to the authorities. 3. The American Association of Mental Retardation (AAMR) defines mental retardation as follows: “Mental retardation refers to substantial limitations in present functioning. It is characterized by significantly subaverage intellectual functioning, existing concurrently with related limitations in two or more of the following applicable adaptive skill areas: communication, self-care, home living, social skills, community use, self-direction, health and safety, functional academics, leisure, and work. Mental retardation manifests before age 18.” Mental Retardation: Definition, Classification, and Systems of Supports 5 (9th ed. 1992). The American Psychiatric Association’s definition is similar: “The essential feature of Mental Retardation is significantly subaverage general intellectual functioning (Criterion A) that is accompanied by significant limitations in adaptive functioning in at least two of the following skill areas: communication, self-care, home living, social/interpersonal skills, use of community resources, self-direction, functional academic skills, work, leisure, health, and safety (Criterion B). The onset must occur before age 18 years (Criterion C). Mental Retardation has many different etiologies and may be seen as a final common pathway of various pathological processes that affect the functioning of the central nervous system.” American Psychiatric Association, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 41 (4th ed. 2000). “Mild” mental retardation is typically used to describe people with an IQ level of 50-55 to approximately 70. Id., at 42-43. 4. The doctor interviewed Atkins, members of his family, and deputies at the jail where he had been incarcerated for the preceding 18 months. Dr. Nelson also reviewed the statements that Atkins had given to the police and the investigative reports concerning this case. 5. Dr. Nelson administered the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scales test (WAIS-III), the standard instrument in the United States for assessing intellectual functioning. AAMR, Mental Retardation, supra. The WAIS-III is scored by adding together the number of points earned on different subtests, and using a mathematical formula to convert this raw score into a scaled score. The test measures an intelligence range from 45 to 155. The mean score of the test is 100, which means that a person receiving a score of 100 is considered to have an average level of cognitive functioning. A. Kaufman & E. Lichtenberger, Essentials of WAIS-III Assessment 60 (1999). It is estimated that between 1 and 3 percent of the population has an IQ between 70 and 75 or lower, which is typically considered the cutoff IQ score for the intellectual function prong of the mental retardation definition. 2 B. Sadock & V. Sadock, Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry 2952 (7th ed. 2000). At the sentencing phase, Dr. Nelson testified: “[Atkins’] full scale IQ is 59. Compared to the population at large, that means less than one percentile… . Mental retardation is a relatively rare thing. It’s about one percent of the population.” App. 274. According to Dr. Nelson, Atkins’ IQ score “would automatically qualify for Social Security disability income.” Id., at 280. Dr. Nelson also indicated that of the over 40 capital defendants that he had evaluated, Atkins was only the second individual who met the criteria for mental retardation. Id., at 310. He testified that, in his opinion, Atkins’ limited intellect had been a consistent feature throughout his life, and that his IQ score of 59 is not an “aberration, malingered result, or invalid test score.” Id., at 308. 6. Dr. Samenow’s testimony was based upon two interviews with Atkins, a review of his school records, and interviews with correctional staff. He did not administer an intelligence test, but did ask Atkins questions taken from the 1972 version of the Wechsler Memory Scale. Id., at 524-525, 529. Dr. Samenow attributed Atkins’ “academic performance [that was] by and large terrible” to the fact that he “is a person who chose to pay attention sometimes, not to pay attention others, and did poorly because he did not want to do what he was required to do.” Id., at 480-481. 7. Thus, we have read the text of the amendment to prohibit all excessive punishments, as well as cruel and unusual punishments that may or may not be excessive. 8. Jerome Bowden, who was identified as having mental retardation when he was 14-years-old, was scheduled for imminent execution in Georgia in June of 1986. The Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles granted a stay following public protests over his execution. A psychologist selected by the State evaluated Bowden and determined that he had an IQ of 65, which is consistent with mental retardation. Nevertheless, the board lifted the stay and Bowden was executed the following day. The board concluded that Bowden understood the nature of his crime and his punishment and therefore that execution, despite his mental deficiencies, was permissible. See Montgomery, Bowden’s Execution Stirs Protest, Atlanta Journal, Oct. 13, 1986, p. A1. 9. Ga. Code Ann. §17-7-131(j) (Supp. 1988). 10. The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988, Pub. L. 100-690, §7001(l), 102 Stat. 4390, 21 U.S.C. § 848(l). Congress expanded the federal death penalty law in 1994. It again included a provision that prohibited any individual with mental retardation from being sentenced to death or executed. Federal Death Penalty Act of 1994, 18 U.S.C. § 3596(c). 11. Md. Ann. Code, Art. 27, §412(f)(1) (1989). 12. Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. §§532.130, 532.135, 532.140; Tenn. Code Ann. §39-13-203; N. M. Stat. Ann. §31-20A-2.1; Ark. Code Ann. §5-4-618; Colo. Rev. Stat. Ann. §16-9-401; Wash. Rev. Code §10.95.030; Ind. Code §§35-36-9-2 through 35-36-9-6; Kan. Stat. Ann. §21-4623. 13. N. Y. Crim. Proc. Law §400.27. However, New York law provides that a sentence of death “may not be set aside … upon the ground that the defendant is mentally retarded” if “the killing occurred while the defendant was confined or under custody in a state correctional facility or local correctional institution.” N. Y. Crim. Proc. Law §400.27.12(d) (McKinney 2001-2002 Interim Pocket Part). 14. Neb. Rev. Stat. §28-105.01. 15. S. D. Codified Laws §23A-27A-26.1; Ariz. Rev. Stat. Ann. 13-703.02; Conn. Gen. Stat. §53a-46a; Fla. Stat. Ann. §921.137; Mo. Rev. Stat. §565.030; 2001-346 N. C. Sess. Laws p. 45. 16. House Bill No. 236 passed the Texas House on April 24, 2001, and the Senate version, S. 686, passed the Texas Senate on May 16, 2001. Governor Perry vetoed the legislation on June 17, 2001. In his veto statement, the Texas Governor did not express dissatisfaction with the principle of categorically excluding the mentally retarded from the death penalty. In fact, he stated: “We do not execute mentally retarded murderers today.” See Veto Proclamation for H. B. No. 236. Instead, his motivation to veto the bill was based upon what he perceived as a procedural flaw: “My opposition to this legislation focuses on a serious legal flaw in the bill. House Bill No. 236 would create a system whereby the jury and judge are asked to make the same determination based on two different sets of facts… . Also of grave concern is the fact that the provision that sets up this legally flawed process never received a public hearing during the legislative process.” Ibid. 17. Virginia Senate Bill No. 497 (2002); House Bill No. 957 (2002); see also Nevada Assembly Bill 353 (2001). Furthermore, a commission on capital punishment in Illinois has recently recommended that Illinois adopt a statute prohibiting the execution of mentally retarded offenders. Report of the Governor’s Commission on Capital Punishment 156 (April 2002). 18. A comparison to Stanford v. Kentucky, 492 U.S. 361 (1989), in which we held that there was no national consensus prohibiting the execution of juvenile offenders over age 15, is telling. Although we decided Stanford on the same day as Penry, apparently only two state legislatures have raised the threshold age for imposition of the death penalty. Mont. Code Ann. §45-5-102 (1999); Ind. Code §35-50-2-3 (1998). 19. App. D to Brief for AAMR et al. as Amici Curiae. 20. Those States are Alabama, Texas, Louisiana, South Carolina, and Virginia. D. Keyes, W. Edwards, & R. Perske, People with Mental Retardation are Dying Legally, 35 Mental Retardation (Feb. 1997)(updated by Death Penalty Information Center; available at http://www.advocacyone.org/deathpenalty.html) (June 18, 2002). 21. Additional evidence makes it clear that this legislative judgment reflects a much broader social and professional consensus. For example, several organizations with germane expertise have adopted official positions opposing the imposition of the death penalty upon a mentally retarded offender. See Brief for American Psychological Association et al. as Amici Curiae; Brief for AAMR et al. as Amici Curiae. In addition, representatives of widely diverse religious communities in the United States, reflecting Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and Buddhist traditions, have filed an amicus curiae brief explaining that even though their views about the death penalty differ, they all “share a conviction that the execution of persons with mental retardation cannot be morally justified.” See Brief for United States Catholic Conference et al. as Amici Curiae in McCarver v. North Carolina, O. T. 2001, No. 00-8727, p. 2. Moreover, within the world community, the imposition of the death penalty for crimes committed by mentally retarded offenders is overwhelmingly disapproved. Brief for The European Union as Amicus Curiae in McCarver v. North Carolina, O. T. 2001, No. 00-8727, p. 4. Finally, polling data shows a widespread consensus among Americans, even those who support the death penalty, that executing the mentally retarded is wrong. R. Bonner & S. Rimer, Executing the Mentally Retarded Even as Laws Begin to Shift, N. Y. Times, Aug. 7, 2000, p. A1; App. B to Brief for AAMR as Amicus Curiae in McCarver v. North Carolina, O. T. 2001, No. 00-8727 (appending approximately 20 state and national polls on the issue). Although these factors are by no means dispositive, their consistency with the legislative evidence lends further support to our conclusion that there is a consensus among those who have addressed the issue. See Thompson v. Oklahoma, 487 U.S. 815, 830, 831, n. 31 (1988) (considering the views of “respected professional organizations, by other nations that share our Anglo-American heritage, and by the leading members of the Western European community”). 22. The statutory definitions of mental retardation are not identical, but generally conform to the clinical definitions set forth in n. 3, supra. 23. J. McGee & F. Menolascino, The Evaluation of Defendants with Mental Retardation in the Criminal Justice System, in The Criminal Justice System and Mental Retardation 55, 58-60 (R. Conley, R. Luckasson, & G. Bouthilet eds. 1992); Appelbaum & Appelbaum, Criminal-Justice Related Competencies in Defendants with Mental Retardation, 14 J. of Psychiatry & L. 483, 487-489 (Winter 1994). 24. See, e.g., Ellis & Luckasson, Mentally Retarded Criminal Defendants, 53 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 414, 429 (1985); Levy-Shiff, Kedem, & Sevillia, Ego Identity in Mentally Retarded Adolescents, 94 Am. J. Mental Retardation 541, 547 (1990); Whitman, Self Regulation and Mental Retardation, 94 Am. J. Mental Retardation 347, 360 (1990); Everington & Fulero, Competence to Confess: Measuring Understanding and Suggestibility of Defendants with Mental Retardation 37 Mental Retardation 212, 212-213, 535 (1999) (hereinafter Everington & Fulero). 25. See Everington & Fulero 212-213. Despite the heavy burden that the prosecution must shoulder in capital cases, we cannot ignore the fact that in recent years a disturbing number of inmates on death row have been exonerated. As two recent high-profile cases demonstrate, these exonerations include mentally retarded persons who unwittingly confessed to crimes that they did not commit. See Baker, Death-Row Inmate Gets Clemency; Agreement Ends Days of Suspense, Washington Post, Jan. 15, 1994, p. A1; Holt & McRoberts, Porter Fully Savors First Taste of Freedom; Judge Releases Man Once Set for Execution, Chicago Tribune, Feb. 6, 1999, p. N1.