"In addition, Pittman is caught in a legal morass about whether the Supreme Court's 2002 prohibition on executing the intellectually disabled applies retroactively. In 2016, the Florida Supreme Court ruled that it should. That would have given Pittman a chance to have his case reconsidered. Butbefore that could happen, as the Tampa Bay Times reports, "the Florida Supreme Court-which had since become more conservative with the retirement of three longtime justices regarded as liberal-reversed themselves, declaring that the Atkins ruling did not apply retroactively.""
"Pittman's intellectual disability in itself should be enough to stop the state from executing him. But there are other reasons why Florida should not go forward with its plan, the most important of which is that his death warrant, like others in the Sunshine State, was issued following a process that denied him basic constitutional protections. It was done in secret by Gov. Ron DeSantis on Aug. 15."
David Joseph Pittman faces execution in Florida for a triple homicide committed 35 years ago. Pittman has severe intellectual disability, with an IQ of 70 before age 18, limited reading ability, and frequent need for repeated explanations. A key legal issue is whether the Supreme Court's 2002 ban on executing intellectually disabled people applies retroactively; the Florida Supreme Court initially ruled it did but later reversed after its composition changed. Pittman's death warrant was issued secretly by Governor Ron DeSantis on Aug. 15 after a process that denied him basic constitutional protections. Florida law does not require the governor to review proceedings, determine competency, or prevent racially discriminatory warrant issuance.
Read at Slate Magazine
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