TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Stacey Shrader Joslin on Apr 21, 2021

A bill that would protect intellectually disabled inmates from death sentences was approved by committees in both the House and Senate last week. SB1349/HB1062 is one of several proposals that would give inmates on death row the opportunity to have a court determine if they are intellectually disabled, and if so, to have their sentences altered. The Tennessee Black Caucus of State Legislators has been behind these legislative efforts, motivated by the pending execution of Pervis Payne, whose lawyers say has an IQ in the intellectually disabled range.