Atkins v. Virginia’s Empirical Analysis
2002
Citation profile
1,217 federal appellate · 80 district · 2,139 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 4,382 later decisions (72 by the Supreme Court) — most recently May 2026 · most notably Roper Superintendent Potosi Correctional Center v. Simmons (2005), Ewing v. California (2003)
1,217 federal appellate · 80 district · 2,139 state decisions — followed in 47 states
Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.
Relationships
Relies on Gregg v. Georgia · Witherspoon v. Illinois · Furman v. Georgia · Lockett v. Ohio · Solem v. Helm
Cited together with Strickland v. Washington · Penry v. Lynaugh · Williams v. Taylor · Ford v. Wainwright · Roper Superintendent Potosi Correctional Center v. Simmons
Most-quoted passages
The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 4,382 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“Mentally retarded persons frequently know the difference between right and wrong and are competent to stand trial. Because of their impairments, however, by definition they have diminished capacities to understand and process information, to communicate, to abstract from mistakes and learn from experience, to engage in logical reasoning, to control impulses, and to understand the reactions of others. There is no evidence that they are more likely to engage in criminal conduct than others, but there is abundant evidence that they often act on impulse rather than pursuant to a premeditated plan, and that in group settings they are followers rather than leaders. Their deficiencies do not warrant an exemption from criminal sanctions, but they do diminish their personal culpability.”
171 later decisions quote this exact passage“Mental retardation refers to substantial limitations in present functioning. It is characterized by significantly subaverage intellectual functioning, existing concurrently with related limitations in two or more of the following applicable adaptive skill areas: communication, self-care, home living, social skills, community use, self-direction, health and safety, functional academics, leisure, and work. Mental retardation manifests before age 18.”
97 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majoritye.g. In re Holladay · Morris v. Dretke“"We are not persuaded that the execution of mentally retarded criminals will measurably advance the deterrent or the retributive purpose of the death penalty. Construing and applying the Eighth Amendment in the light of our `evolving standards of decency,' we therefore conclude that such punishment is excessive and that the Constitution `places a substantive restriction on the State's power to take the life' of a mentally retarded offender."”
41 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majoritye.g. Blue v. Thaler · Busby v. Davis
How this case has been treated — in progress
Whether each later court followed, distinguished, criticized, or overruled this decision. The treatment classification (task #35) runs highest-cited cases first and lights up here as it reaches this one.