Supreme Court to Review Alabama's Death Penalty Appeal

The U.S. Supreme Court will review an appeal by Alabama to execute Joseph Clifton Smith, previously spared the death penalty due to intellectual disability findings. Under a 2002 precedent, executing intellectually disabled persons violates the Eighth Amendment. The case will be heard next term starting October.

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to consider an appeal from Alabama officials concerning a man convicted of murder in 1997. Joseph Clifton Smith, found to be intellectually disabled by a lower court through IQ assessments and expert testimony, may avoid execution as the decision aligns with a precedent established in 2002.

This finding spares him from the death penalty under the U.S. Constitution's Eighth Amendment, preventing cruel and unusual punishment for intellectually disabled individuals. Alabama's Republican-led administration is pushing to overturn this ruling and proceed with the execution.

The Supreme Court is set to hear the case in its upcoming term beginning in October, as the state challenges the interpretation of intellectual disability in capital punishment cases.

(With inputs from agencies.)