Supreme Court leaves Atkins protections intact in Alabama death row case

Overview

Joseph Clifton Smith has been on Alabama's death row since 1997. His five IQ tests came back at 72, 74, 74, 75, and 78. On Thursday, the Supreme Court dismissed Alabama's appeal in Hamm v. Smith, letting stand a lower-court finding that Smith is intellectually disabled and cannot be executed.

The dismissal locks in a more protective reading of the Court's 2002 Atkins ruling for borderline cases. States hoping for a stricter test, one that would treat any IQ score above 70 as disqualifying an Atkins claim, did not get one.

Why it matters

Roughly 20 percent of capital defendants have IQs near the disability threshold, and the rule courts use to weigh their scores decides who lives.

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Key Indicators

IQ tests taken by Smith

Scores ranged from 72 to 78, all above the traditional cutoff of 70.

29 years

Smith on Alabama's death row

Convicted in 1997 for the murder of Durk Van Dam in Mobile County.

Dissenting justices

Roberts, Thomas, Alito, and Gorsuch wanted to rule for Alabama.

24 years

Since Atkins v. Virginia

The 2002 ruling that banned executing the intellectually disabled.

Smith's adjusted low IQ

District court found his lowest score of 72 could be as low as 69 within the measurement error.

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People Involved

Joseph Clifton Smith

Execution barred; remains on death row but cannot be put to death

Samuel Alito

Lead dissenter in Hamm v. Smith

Clarence Thomas

Wrote separate dissent calling to overrule Atkins

Brett Kavanaugh

Pivotal vote to dismiss

Amy Coney Barrett

Pivotal vote to dismiss

Steve Marshall

Lost the appeal

Organizations Involved

Supreme Court of the United States

Federal court

Dismissed the appeal as improvidently granted

The nine-justice court that took the case in June 2025, heard argument in December, then walked away in May.

Alabama Department of Corrections

State Agency

Petitioner; barred from executing Smith

The state agency that holds Smith and brought the appeal in Commissioner Hamm's name.

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit

Federal Appeals Court

Ruling left in place

The Atlanta-based appeals court whose ruling for Smith now stands.

Timeline

1997 May 2026

9 events Latest: May 21st, 2026 · 1 week ago

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May 2026
Court dismisses the case as improvidently granted
Latest Supreme Court Ruling

Five justices vote to walk away. Alito writes a 24-page dissent. Thomas writes separately to call for overruling Atkins. Smith's execution is permanently barred.
May 21st, 2026
December 2025
Oral arguments held
Supreme Court

Justices question how to combine five IQ scores into a single number and whether the Eleventh Circuit's holistic test conflicts with Hall and Moore.
December 10th, 2025
June 2025
Supreme Court grants certiorari
Procedural

The Court agrees to hear Alabama's renewed appeal after the Eleventh Circuit again rules for Smith on remand.
June 6th, 2025
November 2024
Supreme Court first remands Hamm v. Smith
Supreme Court Ruling

In an earlier round, the Court vacates an Eleventh Circuit decision and remands for further consideration of how the lower court treated Smith's multiple IQ scores.
November 4th, 2024
2021
District court finds Smith intellectually disabled
Legal

A federal district judge rules Smith meets the Atkins standard, citing measurement error on his lowest score and substantial adaptive deficits.
2021
March 2017
Moore v. Texas requires current medical standards
Supreme Court Ruling

The Court rejects Texas's use of outdated and non-clinical factors to assess intellectual disability, demanding that current medical standards guide Atkins claims.
March 28th, 2017
May 2014
Hall v. Florida narrows the IQ cutoff
Supreme Court Ruling

The Court strikes down Florida's rigid IQ-70 bright line, holding that states must account for the standard error of measurement when scores are near the threshold.
May 27th, 2014
June 2002
Atkins v. Virginia decided
Supreme Court Ruling

The Supreme Court rules 6-3 that the Eighth Amendment bars executing intellectually disabled defendants. States are left to define how disability is measured.
June 20th, 2002
1997
Smith convicted of capital murder
Legal

An Alabama jury convicts Joseph Clifton Smith for beating Durk Van Dam to death in Mobile County. The trial court accepts the jury recommendation and sentences him to death.
1997

Historical Context

3 moments from history that rhyme with this story — and how they unfolded.

June 2002

Atkins v. Virginia (2002)

Daryl Atkins was sentenced to die in Virginia for a 1996 abduction and murder. His IQ measured 59. The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that executing the intellectually disabled violates the Eighth Amendment, citing an emerging national consensus across state legislatures.

Then

Atkins's own death sentence was vacated. Dozens of death row prisoners filed new Atkins claims in the months that followed.

Now

Atkins set the constitutional floor that Hamm v. Smith was litigated against. States, not the Court, were given the task of defining intellectual disability, which set up the borderline-IQ disputes that have followed.

Why this matters now

Every multiple-IQ-score fight, including Smith's, exists because Atkins drew a line but did not draw a number. The Court declined again to draw that number this week.

May 2014

Hall v. Florida (2014)

Florida had treated any IQ score above 70 as automatically disqualifying an Atkins claim. Freddie Lee Hall, sentenced to die for a 1978 murder, scored as low as 71 on some tests. The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that Florida's bright line ignored the standard error of measurement.

Then

Hall's case was sent back for fuller consideration of his disability. Florida and a handful of other states had to rewrite their Atkins procedures.

Now

Hall established that an IQ near 70 must be read as a range, not a point. That principle is exactly what the Eleventh Circuit applied to Smith's lowest score of 72.

Why this matters now

Alabama's argument in Hamm v. Smith was, in effect, that Hall should not stretch to cover scores in the mid-70s. The dismissal leaves Hall's logic in force for those cases.

March 2017 and February 2019

Moore v. Texas (2017 and 2019)

Texas was using a set of non-clinical factors, drawn from the fictional character Lennie in Of Mice and Men, to assess intellectual disability. Bobby James Moore had scored as low as 57 on IQ tests. The Supreme Court twice told Texas to use current medical standards instead.

Then

Moore was resentenced to life without parole. Texas was forced to abandon its homegrown test.

Now

Moore made clear that states cannot improvise their own definitions of intellectual disability. Current clinical standards control.

Why this matters now

Together with Hall, Moore framed the Eleventh Circuit's approach in Smith's case. The dismissal in Hamm v. Smith means that framework is not being narrowed.