Justice Alito rails against relying on the opinions of people who study and know stuff

[mota bhai 2,675]

The Supreme Court ruled, 5-4, Tuesday that states cannot use a hard IQ cut-off of 70 to determine whether defendants are too mentally disabled to be eligible for the death penalty.

...

"Intellectual disability is a condition, not a number," Kennedy wrote in the majority opinion. "In using these scores to assess a defendant's eligibility for the death penalty, a State must afford these test scores the same studied skepticism that those who design and use the tests do, and understand that an IQ test score represents a range rather than a fixed number. A State that ignores the inherent imprescision of these tests risks executing a person who suffers from intellectual disability."

...

Justice Samuel Alito wrote for the court's conservatives in dissent, arguing that Kennedy's opinion relies too much on the views of psychology and psychiatric groups and gives short shrift to the role of state legislatures like Florida's.

"The Court's approach in this case marks a new and most unwise turn in our Eighth Amendment case law," Alito wrote. "Under our modern Eighth Amendment cases, what counts are our society’sstandards—which is to say, the standards of the American people—not the standards of professional associations, which at best represent the views of a small professional elite."

http://www.politico.com/blogs/under-the-radar/2014/05/scotus-strikes-florida-iq-cutoff-for-executions-189219.html

Edited May 27, 2014 by mota bhai

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

The Supreme Court ruled, 5-4, Tuesday that states cannot use a hard IQ cut-off of 70 to determine whether defendants are too mentally disabled to be eligible for the death penalty.

...

"Intellectual disability is a condition, not a number," Kennedy wrote in the majority opinion. "In using these scores to assess a defendant's eligibility for the death penalty, a State must afford these test scores the same studied skepticism that those who design and use the tests do, and understand that an IQ test score represents a range rather than a fixed number. A State that ignores the inherent imprescision of these tests risks executing a person who suffers from intellectual disability."

...

Justice Samuel Alito wrote for the court's conservatives in dissent, arguing that Kennedy's opinion relies too much on the views of psychology and psychiatric groups and gives short shrift to the role of state legislatures like Florida's.

"The Court's approach in this case marks a new and most unwise turn in our Eighth Amendment case law," Alito wrote. "Under our modern Eighth Amendment cases, what counts are our society’sstandards—which is to say, the standards of the American people—not the standards of professional associations, which at best represent the views of a small professional elite."

http://www.politico.com/blogs/under-the-radar/2014/05/scotus-strikes-florida-iq-cutoff-for-executions-189219.html

A small professional elite? Something like the Supreme Court Justices, yes?

[elmcitymaven 9,712]

"The Court's approach in this case marks a new and most unwise turn in our Eighth Amendment case law," Alito wrote. "Under our modern Eighth Amendment cases, what counts are our society’s standards—which is to say, the standards of the American people—not the standards of professional associations, which at best represent the views of a small professional elite."

wait wut

I don't know about him, but I'd rather have a psychiatrist determine my intellectual functioning than the Florida Legislature, whom I believe are all legally brain dead.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

wait wut

I don't know about him, but I'd rather have a psychiatrist determine my intellectual functioning than the Florida Legislature, whom I believe are all legally brain dead.

As a FL resident, I can confirm that the FL legislature is indeed brain dead.

[OnMyWayID 1,489]

I do remember in the not too distant past that more than one of the esteemed members of this very forum said that IQ is really not a good measure of intelligence.. At the time I assumed those saying as such had scored low at an IQ test along the line somewhere and were in a little bit of denial.

So are we all in agreement now that IQ is an accurate way to determine intelligence to a point that it can be used as a hard line determination if someone is fit to stand for the crimes they are accused?

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

I do remember in the not too distant past that more than one of the esteemed members of this very forum said that IQ is really not a good measure of intelligence.. At the time I assumed those saying as such had scored low at an IQ test along the line somewhere and were in a little bit of denial.

So are we all in agreement now that IQ is an accurate way to determine intelligence to a point that it can be used as a hard line determination if someone is fit to stand for the crimes they are accused?

It's great in keeping animal murders from the death needle

Utterly meaning less if used in our education system and dreamed up to keep people down