Supreme Court Indicates IQ Tests Not Enough to Warrant Death Penalty

The Associated Press reports on U.S. Supreme Court arguments held yesterday on how states evaluate mental disability in order to decide whether murder defendants can be executed. Execution of the mentally disabled is unconstitutional.

"Five justices, enough to form a majority, pointed repeatedly to the margin of error inherent in IQ and other standardized tests. They voiced skepticism about the practice in Florida and certain other states of barring an inmate from claiming mental disability when his IQ score is just above 70," AP also reports. The advocate for  not allowing inmates to be executed when their IQ scores are just above 70 conceded that a score of 76 would preclude an inmate from arguing mental disability.