The Legacy of Atkins v. Virginia and Its Impact on Fuston v. State

In Atkins v. Virginia, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the execution of defendants with an intellectual disability is "cruel and unusual punishment" prohibited by the Eighth Amendment. In a 6 to 3 decision, the Court noted the increasing number of states that blocked the executions of persons with an intellectual disability, reflecting the country's growing consensus that defendants with an intellectual disability are less culpable for their crimes than those without such a disability. Since this milestone decision, several subsequent cases have referenced this opinion. This article reviews other cases in which the execution of persons with an intellectual disability has been called into question, concluding with the Atkins-related appeal in Fuston v. State In that case, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals considered Oklahoma statutes regarding the bright-line cutoff by which defendants meet criteria for intellectual disability, as applied to the multiple intelligence measures that were administered to Mr. Fuston. The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals determined that Mr. Fuston did not meet the criteria for intellectual disability because of his performance on a single IQ measure administered when he was 12 years old, instead of the totality of his performance on subsequent intelligence measures. Mr. Fuston was also denied 14 other, unrelated propositions on appeal, and the state reaffirmed his death sentence. Implications and recommendations for forensic practice are discussed.