Atkins V. Virginia (2002)
Definition
US Supreme Court ruling categorically prohibiting the execution of intellectually disabled defendants under the Eighth Amendment; Hall v. Florida (2014) and Moore v. Texas (2017) refined the intellectual-disability assessment standard.
- Case
- Atkins v. Virginia, 2002
- Constitutional basis
- Eighth Amendment cruel and unusual punishment clause
- Effect
- Categorical bar on executing intellectually disabled defendants
- Later refinement 1
- Hall v. Florida, 2014
- Later refinement 2
- Moore v. Texas, 2017
Common questions
What did Hall v. Florida change about the Atkins standard?+
Hall struck down a rigid IQ cutoff of 70 that some states used to deny any further evaluation. It held that clinical standard error of measurement must be considered, so scores in the low-to-mid 70s can still trigger a full adaptive-functioning inquiry.
What did Moore v. Texas add?+
Moore rejected outdated, non-clinical criteria some states substituted for accepted diagnostic standards and required courts to follow current medical consensus, such as DSM or AAIDD criteria, when assessing intellectual disability.
Why do forensic evaluators need to track the post-Atkins case line rather than just the 2002 ruling?+
Atkins set the constitutional floor but left implementation to the states, and several states applied it in ways later Supreme Court rulings had to correct. An evaluator working a capital case needs the current controlling standard, not just the original 2002 holding.
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