USA - Georgia. Georgia has set an execution date of January 27 for Warren Hill, an inmate diagnosed with intellectual disabilities

Georgia has set an execution date of January 27 for Warren Hill, an inmate diagnosed with intellectual disabilities (formerly referred to as "mental retardation"). If Hill was convicted in any other state in the country, he almost certainly would be ineligible for the death penalty. The U.S. Supreme Court banned the execution of people with intellectual disabilities in Atkins v. Virginia (2002), but allowed states to set procedures for determining this disability. Georgia set the strictest standard, requiring proof "beyond a reasonable doubt." A Georgia judge found Hill intellectually disabled under a "preponderance of the evidence" standard, which is the test used in most states. Hill's attorneys have asked for a stay of execution, saying that Georgia's unusual standard violates the Supreme Court's 2014 ruling in Hall v. Florida, which struck down Florida's unusual IQ cutoff for determining intellectual disability. Brian Kammer, an attorney for Hill, said, "Twice the lower court found Warren Hill to have intellectual disability by the preponderance of the evidence, a widely-used and appropriate standard. All of the states’ experts have agreed, and in fact no expert who has ever examined Mr. Hill disputes that he has intellectual disability." Kammer stated further, "Many prominent leaders in the field of intellectual disability agree that Mr. Hill should not face execution because he is a person with lifelong intellectual disability. The only reason that he is now at risk of execution is that Georgia’s standard – requiring capital defendants to prove they have intellectual disability ‘beyond a reasonable doubt’ – is not science-based and inherently denies people like Mr. Hill from receiving the protection which the U.S. Supreme Court has ordered." On Oct. 7, 2013 (see) the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review Georgia's unusual burden for proving mental retardation. On the opening day of the U.S. Supreme Court's new term, the Justices announced they would not review the case of Hill. Hill petitioned the Court after three mental health experts, who initially said he was not mentally disabled, changed their assessment. Hill was sentenced to death for killing fellow inmate Joseph Handspike in August 1990. At the time, Hill was serving a life sentence for the 1986 murder of his 18-year-old girlfriend, Myra Wright.