Supreme Court Reverses Alabama Death Sentence, Orders Appeals Court to Reconsider

Alabama appealed after the Eleventh Circuit found the Eighth Amendment barred executing a convicted murderer because of his low IQ.

The U.S. Supreme Court in Washington in Washington, on Oct. 7, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

The U.S. Supreme Court ordered an appeals court to take a second look at its decision setting aside an intellectually disabled Alabama inmate’s death sentence.

Justices determined on Nov. 4 that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit will have to clarify its 2023 ruling overturning the death sentence of Joseph Clifton Smith.