Poll options-

1. Yes, they still know right from wrong

2. Completely depends on the severity of their intellectual disability and crime

3. No, people with a low IQ have a harder time distinguishing right from wrong

4. I don’t agree with the death penalty under any circumstances

I don’t agree with the death penalty except perhaps in extreme circumstances (as in the rise of a new Hitler or someone similar), but I thought this would be an interesting discussion.

⚠️ (Trigger Warning) In 1993, John Lotter was sentenced to death for his role in the killings of Brandon Teena, a 21-year-old transgender man, and two witnesses. Teena was brutally raped prior to being murdered by Lotter after Lotter and an accomplice forced him to remove his pants and they discovered he was anatomically female. (End of Trigger Warning) ⚠️

As Lotter’s execution date is approaching, attorneys for him say he is ineligible for the death penalty because “he has the intellect of a young child”.

“Lotter’s lawyers filed a motion last week stating that recent IQ testing showed that the 46-year-old is intellectually disabled and therefore can’t be put to death under a 2002 U.S. Supreme Court ruling forbidding the execution of the intellectually disabled, the Lincoln Journal Star reported

Under Nebraska law, an IQ of 70 or below is presumptive evidence of an intellectual disability. Court records show that Lotter scored a 67 last year, which would be the equivalent IQ of an 8-year-old.” — https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/boys-don-t-cry-inmate-s-iq-too-low-execute-n862686

Questions:

—Do you believe an IQ test should be taken prior to execution to rule out those with intellectual disability?

—Should an extremely low IQ “forgive” a person from their crimes, even murder, and is prison the right place for these people or is a type of supervised home more appropriate?

—Do you think, in Lotter’s case, he should not be executed because of his low IQ?

—Are IQ tests even reliable in measuring competency between RIGHT and WRONG?