Supreme Court to hear Alabama appeal in push to execute intellectually disabled man

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Source: The Independent

The Supreme Court will hear an appeal from Alabama’s Attorney General’s Office in its push to execute an intellectually disabled man, according to an order released early on Friday.

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In 1997, Smith beat Durk Van Dam to death with a hammer and a saw in Mobile County to steal his boots, tools and $140, Reuters reported. Van Dam’s body was found in his truck in an isolated wooded area.

Lower federal courts found Smith is intellectually disabled and can’t be executed. People who are intellectually disabled are protected from the death penalty following a Supreme Court ruling from 2002.

But this fall, the Supreme Court will hear arguments about what to do in cases when IQ scores are slightly above the widely accepted 70-point marker to determine if someone is intellectually disabled.

Read more: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/supreme-court-execute-intellectually-disabled-joseph-clifton-smith-b2765542.html