Join Georgia Faith Leaders to oppose the execution of people with intellectual disabilities
Georgia General Assembly
If you are the leader of a faith community in Georgia, we ask you to join us in expressing our moral opposition to our state's policies regarding people with intellectual disabilities facing the death penalty. Learn more about this issue below, read our letter to the Georgia General Assembly, and sign your name!
Intellectual Disabilities & the Death Penalty in Georgia
Intellectual disability is a disability characterized by significant limitations in both intellectual functioning and adaptive behavior, which covers many everyday social and practical skills. This disability originates before the age of 18.
One way to measure intellectual functioning is an IQ test. Generally, an IQ test score of around 70 or as high as 75 indicates a limitation in intellectual functioning.
In 2002, the United States Supreme Court ruled in Atkins v. Virginia that the execution of individuals with intellectual disabilities was a violation of the Eighth Amendment’s protection against cruel and unusual punishment.
The Atkins decision left it up to individual states to decide on the standard of proof they would use to determine intellectual disability.
GEORGIA
- Under the current process in Georgia, a defendant with an intellectual disability must persuade the jury of their innocence and their intellectual disability simultaneously beyond a reasonable doubt.
- Juries trying these cases have the option of returning a verdict of guilty, innocent, or guilty but with intellectual disability.
- Georgia is the only state that requires the jury to make an ID determination at the same time as they are deciding guilt.
- If found guilty but with an intellectual disability, the death penalty is automatically off the table.
- In Georgia post-Atkins, no defendant has been able to prove their intellectual disability "beyond a reasonable doubt."
- Several bills have failed in an attempt to change this standard of proof from “beyond a reasonable doubt” to “preponderance of the evidence.”
- Through this change in the standard of proof, we can prevent the wrongful execution of a person with an intellectual disability from occurring.
Sponsored by
To:
Georgia General Assembly
From:
[Your Name]
September 7th, 2023
We, as faith leaders from every corner of the state of Georgia, come together to bring to your attention an injustice occurring in our state and urge you to take action to stop it.
In 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that executing those with intellectual disabilities was a violation of the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment's protection against cruel and unusual punishment. The court left it up to individual states to develop standards for determining intellectual disability. Sadly, Georgia stands alone among all the states in requiring the highest standard of proof – beyond a reasonable doubt. As a result, individuals with intellectual disabilities have been executed, and are at risk of being executed again.
Although our sacred texts and traditions differ, all our faith traditions call us to protect the dignity of all people, especially the most vulnerable among us. We cannot stand by while our state laws, though designed to protect people with intellectual disabilities, ensure that they have no chance of proving their disability in a court of law. Therefore, we urge you to support legislation that would change this standard of proof from “beyond a reasonable doubt” to “preponderance of the evidence.” Only through this change in the standard of proof can we prevent the wrongful execution of a person with an intellectual disability from occurring.
This issue has come before our state legislature many times before. Let this be the year that we say no more to this injustice, and pass legislation that will protect the constitutional rights of people with intellectual disabilities.
Together, we represent millions of faithful Georgians, united in a common commitment to protecting human life and dignity. We ask you to respect the values of Georgia’s people of faith, as well as the supreme law of the land, and take action to prevent any more executions of our most vulnerable from occurring.
In Faith & Justice,
Georgia Faith Leaders United for Action