Hamm v. Smith

                  Cite as: 

 (2024)            1

                           Per Curiam

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
    JOHN Q. HAMM, COMMISSIONER, ALABAMA
       DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS v.
            JOSEPH CLIFTON SMITH
   ON PETITION FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED
  STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
             No. 23–167.   Decided November 4, 2024

   PER CURIAM.
   Joseph Clifton Smith was sentenced to death for the murder of Durk Van Dam. The U. S. District Court for the
Southern District of Alabama vacated Smith’s death sentence after concluding that he is intellectually disabled. See
Atkins v. Virginia, 

 (2002). Smith has obtained five full-scale IQ scores, ranging from 72 to 78.
Smith’s claim of intellectual disability depended in part on
whether his IQ is 70 or below. The District Court found
that Smith’s IQ could be as low as 69 given the standard
error of measurement for his lowest score of 72. The District Court then vacated the death sentence, and the U. S.
Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed. Smith
v. Commissioner, Ala. Dept. of Corrections, 

 (2023).
   Analyzing Smith’s intellectual functioning requires evaluating his various IQ scores. In Hall v. Florida, 

 (2014), this Court stated that “when a person has
taken multiple tests, each separate score must be assessed”
considering the standard error of measurement. The Court
further noted that “the analysis of multiple IQ scores jointly
is a complicated endeavor.” 

 This Court has not specified how courts should evaluate multiple IQ scores. See
ibid.; Moore v. Texas, 

 (2017); Brumfield v. Cain,

 (2015).
   The Eleventh Circuit’s opinion can be read in two ways.
On the one hand, the Eleventh Circuit’s opinion might be
2                      HAMM v. SMITH

                         Per Curiam

read to afford conclusive weight to the fact that the lower
end of the standard-error range for Smith’s lowest IQ score
is 69. That analysis would suggest a per se rule that the
lower end of the standard-error range for an offender’s lowest score is dispositive. On the other hand, the Eleventh
Circuit also approvingly cited the District Court’s determination that Smith’s lowest score is not an outlier when considered together with his higher scores. That analysis
would suggest a more holistic approach to multiple IQ
scores that considers the relevant evidence, including as appropriate any relevant expert testimony.
   The Eleventh Circuit’s opinion is unclear on this point,
and this Court’s ultimate assessment of any petition for certiorari by the State may depend on the basis for the Eleventh Circuit’s decision. Therefore, we grant the petition for
certiorari and Smith’s motion for leave to proceed in forma
pauperis, vacate the judgment of the Eleventh Circuit, and
remand the case for further consideration consistent with
this opinion.
                                             It is so ordered.

  JUSTICE THOMAS and JUSTICE GORSUCH would grant the
petition for a writ of certiorari and set the case for argument.