Samuel Alito Questions Threshold for Proving Intellectual Disability Beyond IQ Tests

Intellectual Functioning and IQ Scores

• 💡 Associate Justice Samuel Alito questioned the threshold for requiring more than just IQ tests to determine intellectual disability during oral arguments for Hamm v. Smith.
• 🎯 The core of the discussion revolved around whether IQ scores alone can be sufficient to prove significantly substandard intellectual functioning.

Adaptive Functioning and Expert Testimony

• 🧠 Alito probed whether a district court could deem IQ scores alone as sufficient, particularly if the statistical possibility of a true IQ below 70 is very small.
• ⚖️ Respondent attorney Seth P. Waxman argued that courts must always hear additional evidence about adaptive functioning.
• 🗣️ He stated that if a court credits expert testimony suggesting IQ scores are unreliable (e.g., due to malingering or being an outlier), it would not be in error, provided it is consistent with state law.

State Consensus on Evidence Assessment

• 📌 Waxman confirmed the near-unanimous consensus among states that multiple IQ scores must be assessed holistically in light of all relevant evidence.
• 📊 Even with multiple IQ scores, a court cannot simply dismiss a defendant's claim of intellectual disability without hearing additional expert testimony on the reliability of those scores.
• 📈 However, a court could still conclude that extraneous evidence, other than test scores, does not support a finding of intellectual disability, even if scores fall within a borderline range.