Joseph Clifton Smith

The US Supreme Court dismissed Alabama's challenge to a lower court finding that death row inmate Joseph Clifton Smith is intellectually disabled and therefore ineligible for execution under the Constitution. The court's single-sentence, unsigned order reversed its earlier decision to hear the state's appeal about the method used to determine Smith's intellectual disability.

The Supreme Court dismissed a death penalty case on procedural grounds involving Joseph Clifton Smith, a man whose mental disabilities place him near the threshold for exemption from capital punishment. The decision leaves unresolved the broader question of how to handle executions of individuals with severe mental disabilities.

The Supreme Court dismissed an Alabama death row inmate Joseph Clifton Smith's appeal regarding how multiple IQ scores should be evaluated in capital cases. The court issued an unsigned opinion stating the appeal was 'improvidently granted,' indicating the justices made a mistake in agreeing to hear the case.