Ruling in Atkins v. Virginia, on June 20, 2002, the majority opinion declared, “Executions of mentally retarded criminals are ‘cruel and unusual punishments’ prohibited by the Eighth Amendment.”
The question presented was:
“[W]hether either justification that we have recognized as a basis for the death penalty applies to mentally retarded offenders.”
The opinion
Read the full rulingPDF · 1.42 MBPublished by the Library of Congress.
Oral argument
Listen at OyezOffsiteThe Court's own audio archive begins with the 2010 term, so this argument is held by Oyez rather than by supremecourt.gov.
