Washington, D.C. (WDNews) — The U.S. Supreme Court dismissed Alabama’s attempt to execute death row inmate Joseph Clifton Smith, leaving in place a lower court ruling that found Smith intellectually disabled and therefore ineligible for execution.
According to reports, the Supreme Court dismissed the case in a 5-4 decision as “improvidently granted,” meaning the justices decided they should not have agreed to hear the case.
The ruling leaves standing an earlier federal appeals court decision that determined Smith is constitutionally barred from receiving the death penalty due to an intellectual disability.
According to reports, Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett joined the court’s three liberal justices — Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson — in the majority.
Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch dissented, arguing the court missed an opportunity to clarify how lower courts should evaluate multiple borderline IQ test results.
The decision also upholds the Supreme Court’s 2002 ruling banning the execution of intellectually disabled individuals.
