Opinion ID: 1387806
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: the breadth of the holding

Text: Today's constitutional holding may extend protection to those who neither need nor deserve protection. The majority opinion presumes that no mentally retarded criminal defendant, regardless of the degree of retardation, could ever act with that degree of blame-worthiness associated with the death penalty. In Georgia, a criminal defendant is mentally retarded if he has: [S]ignificantly subaverage general intellectual functioning resulting in or associated with impairments in adaptive behavior which manifested during the developmental period. [OCGA § 17-7-131 (3).] According to Ellis and Luckasson: General intellectual functioning is a phenomenon measured, and thus defined, by intelligence tests. It is, therefore, quantifiable as an intelligence quotient (IQ) score. The AAMD's definition sets the upper boundary of mental retardation at an IQ level of 70, which is approximately two standard deviations from the mean score of 100. [Cit.] For an individual to be classified as mentally retarded, the deficit in intellectual functioning must be accompanied by impairments in adaptive behavior defined as significant limitations in an individual's effectiveness in meeting the standards of maturation, learning, personal independence, and/or social responsibility that are expected from his or her age level and cultural group, as determined by clinical assessment and, usually standardized scales. Thus adaptive behavior is a term of art, which is not synonymous with maladaptive behavior. The inclusion of adaptive behavior in the definition of mental retardation requires that intellectual impairment, measured by an intelligence test, have some practical impact on the individual's life. [Cit.] Ellis, J., and Luckasson, R., Mentally Retarded Criminal Defendants, 53 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 414, 422 (1985). Given our statute and the majority's constitutional holding, all that is needed to relieve and criminal defendant from the death penalty is the following: an IQ test score of 70 or lower and an expert to testify that the defendant is mentally retarded. There is no requirement that the mentally retarded criminal defendant's retardation prevented him from appreciating the nature and quality or the wrongfulness of his conduct. There is no value attached to any experience in life, i.e., military or other training, jobs held, independent living, family reared, ability to read or write, educational background, licenses held, ability to drive a car and obey the rules of the road, or ability to obey laws generally.