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The Scientific and the Social in Implementing Atkins v. Virginia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 December 2018

Natalie A. Pifer
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Abstract

Atkins v. Virginia (2002) categorically exempts intellectually disabled defendants from execution, yet some constitutionally suspect punishments suggest a gap between law and practice. This article moves beyond critiquing Atkins' formal implementation to provide a decentered analysis of the Atkins gap focused on the category of intellectual disability. It explores how drawing boundaries around intellectual disability in capital cases requires law to grapple with fluid scientific and social constructs through a study of how courts operationalize intellectual disability in capital cases. It draws from literatures considering the construction of intellectual disability and law's relationship to the scientific and the social and finds that this intersection first enables a conceptual disconnect between scientific and legal constructions of intellectual disability and, second, invites the use of stereotypes to inform the category. These processes undermine Atkins'—and other categorical exemptions'—ability to functionally limit extreme punishments and also reveal law as mutually constitutive.

Type
Articles
Information
Law & Social Inquiry , Volume 41 , Issue 4 , Fall 2016 , pp. 1036 - 1060
Copyright
Copyright © American Bar Foundation, 2016 

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