Supreme Court will hear Alabama appeal in bid to execute man found to be intellectually disabled

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court will consider making it harder for convicted murderers to show their lives should be spared because they are intellectually disabled, according to an order released early on Friday after an apparent technological glitch.

The justices’ action comes in an appeal from Alabama, which is seeking to execute Joseph Clifton Smith. He was sentenced to death for killing a man in 1997. Lower federal courts found Smith is intellectually disabled and thus can’t be executed.

When it’s argued in the fall, the case could be the first in which the Supreme Court cuts back on its 23-year-old landmark ruling that barred the death penalty for people who are intellectually disabled.

At issue is what happens in borderline cases, when scores on IQ tests are slightly above 70, which is widely accepted as a marker of intellectual disability.

In 2014 and 2017, the court somewhat eased the burden of showing intellectual disability in those cases.

It’s the second time in about a year that an online error resulted in an early release from the high court. An opinion in an abortion case was accidently posted on its website a day early in June 2024. The court’s landmark opinion overturning abortion as a constitutional right also went out early, though those circumstances were different because the case was leaked.

This time, the court released a set of orders set for Monday after an “apparent software malfunction” sent out early notifications.