Hamm v. Smith

Overview

Joseph Smith has been on Alabama's death row for over two decades, and the constitutional question the Supreme Court took up is whether he qualifies as intellectually disabled under Atkins v. Virginia, which bars executing someone with an intellectual disability. The dispute turned on five IQ tests that produced scores ranging from 72 to 78, and Alabama wanted the courts to apply those numbers in a way that put Smith just above the legal threshold rather than look at the full picture. The Supreme Court dismissed the case as improvidently granted in May 2026, leaving the Eleventh Circuit's ruling intact: Smith is intellectually disabled and cannot be executed, though four justices dissented sharply.

Facts

Joseph Clifton Smith, a death row inmate in Alabama, scored five IQ tests at 78, 75, 74, 74, and 72, each with a standard error of measurement of plus or minus 3 points. Alabama requires an IQ above 70 to be eligible for capital punishment under Atkins v. Virginia. Smith argued that his scores, when the margin of error is applied, could fall at or below 70, potentially disqualifying him from execution. The state courts upheld his death sentence, and the Supreme Court took the case to address the standard for evaluating intellectual disability claims.

Issue

Does the Eighth Amendment, as interpreted in Atkins v. Virginia and Hall v. Florida, require courts to consider the standard error of measurement (SEM) in IQ scores when determining intellectual disability in capital cases? Does Alabama's bright-line IQ threshold without SEM consideration violate the Eighth Amendment's ban on executing intellectually disabled persons?

Rule

Atkins v. Virginia (2002) prohibits execution of intellectually disabled persons under the Eighth Amendment; Hall v. Florida (2014) held that states must account for the SEM in IQ scores and cannot use a strict cutoff that ignores the margin of error inherent in IQ testing. IQ scores are not precise numerical measurements; the SEM reflects scientific consensus that an IQ score of 70 could represent a true score anywhere from approximately 66 to 74, and courts must apply this understanding in Atkins determinations.

Analysis

The Atkins line of cases draws a constitutional floor: the Eighth Amendment bars executing intellectually disabled defendants. But Atkins left it to the states to define intellectual disability. Some states, including Alabama, set a hard IQ cutoff at 70. The Supreme Court pushed back in Hall v. Florida, holding that a rigid cutoff ignores the standard error of measurement built into every IQ test.

Smith's case puts that principle to work with unusually clear numbers. His five IQ scores cluster between 72 and 78. Every single one, when adjusted for the standard error, could fall at or below 70. The question is whether a court must account for that uncertainty or can simply take the raw score at face value.

Conclusion

The Supreme Court held on the question presented in Hamm v. Smith. The decision clarifies the law on this issue.

The judgment was rendered accordingly.