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logical reasoning, to control impulses, and to understand the reactions of others.” Id.

at 318. These deficiencies “do not warrant an exemption from criminal sanctions, but
they do diminish their personal culpability.” Id. at 318. The Court also suggested that

the retribution and deterrence justifications for the death penalty likely do not apply

to people with intellectual disabilities. Id. at 318–20.

For Mr. Atkins, whose IQ score was 59, this meant the death penalty could not

be imposed. The Court cautioned, however, that “[n]ot all people who claim to be

[intellectually disabled] will be so impaired as to fall within the range of [intellectually

disabled] offenders about whom there is a national consensus.” Id. at 317. Accordingly,
the Supreme Court “le[ft] to the State[s] the task of developing appropriate ways to

enforce the constitutional restriction upon [their] execution of sentences.” Id.

• Hall v. Florida, 572 U.S. 701 (2014) (Kennedy, J.)

Twelve years later, the Supreme Court addressed the question left open by

Atkins: the constitutionally-required parameters for a state scheme for identifying

individuals with an intellectual disability in capital punishment cases. In Hall, the
Court held unconstitutional a Florida law defining intellectual disability to require

an IQ test score of 70 or less and foreclosing further exploration of intellectual

disability based on that test score. The Court reasoned: “[t]his rigid rule … creates
an unacceptable risk that persons with intellectual disability will be executed, and

thus is unconstitutional.” Id. at 704.

“Hall had received nine IQ evaluations in 40 years, with scores ranging from 60

to 80 … but the sentencing court excluded the two scores below 70 for evidentiary
reasons, leaving only scores between 71 and 80.” Id. at 707. Because of Florida’s

rigid rule, a sentencing court in Florida would be barred from considering “even

substantial and weighty evidence of intellectual disability as measured and made
manifest by the defendant’s failure or inability to adapt to his social and cultural

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