Hall v. Florida (572 U.S. 701)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided May 27, 2014 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 572 U.S. 701 · 134 S. Ct. 1986
- Decided
- May 27, 2014
- Term
- October Term 2013
- Vote
- 5–4
- Majority author
- Justice Kennedy
- Issue area
- Criminal Procedure
- Disposition
- Reversed and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
- Constitutional ruling
- State/territorial law held unconstitutional
Opinion excerpt
Unconstitutional as Applied Fla. Stat. Ann. § 921.137(1) Validity Called into Doubt Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 532.130(2); Va. Code Ann. § 19.2-264.3:1.1; Ariz. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 13-753(F); 11 West's Del.C. § 4209(d)(3); Kan. Stat. Ann. § 76-12b01; N.C. Gen. Stat. Ann. § 15A-2005; Wash. Rev. Code Ann. § 10.95.030(2)(c) Syllabus* After this Court held that the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments forbid the execution of persons with intellectual disability, see Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U.S. 304, 321, 122 S.Ct. 2242, 153 L.Ed.2d 335, Hall asked a Florida state court to vacate his sentence, presenting evidence that included an IQ test score of 71. The court denied his motion, determining that a Florida statute mandated that he show an IQ score of 70 or below before being permitted to present any additional intellectual disability evidence. The State Supreme Court rejected Hall's appeal, finding the State's 70-point threshold constitutional. Held : The State's threshold requirement, as interpreted by the Florida Supreme Court, is unconstitutional. Pp. 1992 - 2001. (a) The Eighth Amendment, which "reaffirms the duty of the government to respect the dignity of all persons," Roper v. Simmons, 543 U.S. 551, 560, 125 S.Ct. 1183, 161 L.Ed.2d 1, prohibits the execution of persons with intellectual disability. No legitimate penological purpose is served by executing the intellectually disabled.…
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