SCOTUS vacates Eleventh Circuit's decision in Hamm v. Smith

The Court issued a Per Curiam opinion granting the State’s petition, vacating the Eleventh Circuit’s judgment, and remanding the case for further consideration.

As TFDP previously covered, the State of Alabama filed a petition for cert with the U.S. Supreme Court to review the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit’s decision affirming the district court’s vacatur of Joseph Smith’s sentence of death on the ground that Smith is intellectually disabled and thus ineligible for the death penalty under Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U.S. 304 (2003).

As TFDP previously covered, Attorneys General from around the country, including Florida AG Moody joined an amicus brief to the Court on the petition regarding the Eighth Amendment “evolving standards of decency” standard.

Today, the Court issued a Per Curiam opinion granting the State’s petition, vacating the Eleventh Circuit’s judgment, and remanding the case for further consideration.

The Court analyzed the Eleventh Circuit’s opinion as follows:

The Eleventh Circuit’s opinion can be read in two ways. On the one hand, the Eleventh Circuit’s opinion might be read to afford conclusive weight to the fact that the lower end of the standard-error range for Smith’s lowest IQ score is 69. That analysis would suggest a per se rule that the lower end of the standard-error range for an offender’s lowest score is dispositive. On the other hand, the Eleventh Circuit also approvingly cited the District Court’s determination that Smith’s lowest score is not an outlier when considered together with his higher scores. That analysis would suggest a more holistic approach to multiple IQ scores that considers the relevant evidence, including as appropriate any relevant expert testimony.

The Eleventh Circuit’s opinion is unclear on this point, and this Court’s ultimate assessment of any petition for certiorari by the State may depend on the basis for the Eleventh Circuit’s decision.

Justices Thomas and Gorsuch would’ve granted the petition and set the case for oral argument.

The full opinion can be downloaded here.