The Supreme Court has directed a federal appeals court to reexamine the case of Joseph Smith, a death row inmate in Alabama, who has been found to have an intellectual disability by lower courts. Smith was convicted and sentenced to death for a murder in 1997, and the crux of his case revolves around the determination of intellectual disability in relation to the death penalty.
In a recent unsigned opinion, the Supreme Court highlighted the need for clarity in the lower court's ruling on Smith's intellectual disability status. Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch expressed their willingness to hear the case immediately.
