Amicus Brief - Freddie Lee Hall v. State of Florida
29 Pages Posted: 12 Jan 2014
Date Written: December 1, 2013
Abstract
IQ cutoffs violate the Constitution. In Atkins v. Virginia, the United States Supreme Court recognized three distinct components to intellectual disability: (1) an intelligence quotient; (2) deficits in adaptive functioning; and (3) onset prior to eighteen. The Florida Supreme Court interpreted Fla. Stat. § 921.137(1) to bar evidence of adaptive disability and early onset if a defendant scored above a 70 on an IQ test. As Justice Perry recognized in his partial dissent, that interpretation will "lead to the execution of a retarded man." The Amicus brief argues that the Florida Supreme Court's decision should be reversed because it prohibits the type of individualized consideration that the Court's death penalty jurisprudence demands. As evidenced in the juvenile context, reduced culpability is the basis upon which to spare individuals -- and certain groups -- from the death penalty. Florida's IQ cutoff prohibits such an inquiry, and is therefore unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment.
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