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"Implementing (or Nullifying) Atkins?: The Impact of State Procedural Choices on Outcome in Capital Cases Where Intellectual Disability is at Issue"

By Douglas A. Berman

The title of this post is the title of this notable new article available via SSRN authored by John Blume, Sheri Lynn Johnson and Christopher Seeds. Here is the abstract: This empirical study assesses the impact of state procedural choices on the implementation of Atkins v. Virginia, which prohibits the execution of prisoners with intellectual disability (?mental retardation?).  Since Atkins, much scholarly attention, including our own, has focused on the manner in which states have applied substantive definitions of intellectual disability that deviate from the clinical norm.  But as the present study shows, matters of procedure -- such as whether a judge or jury determines intellectual disability, whether the determination occurs prior to trial or in conjunction with a capital sentencing trail, and the applicable burden of proof -- may also make a difference on outcome...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on September 16, 2010 (boomark / email).