And In an Addendum to His IQ Test, Bubba Would Like to Comment...

I was searching the web looking for fodder for my blog-rant, and found this:



The article he is commenting on can be found here.

The article itself is something to rant about. The state of Tennessee wants to require doctors' testimony to prove mental retardation (IQ under 70) instead of just relying on time-proven testing. (Medically, and officially, this condition is still known as "mental retardation.") I'm sure the prosecutors in Tennessee would never do something as unethical as seek out paid experts to say that every defendant is above 70 IQ despite what the testing says. *eyes rolling* Just reading about how desperately the good Christians of Tennessee want to execute their mentally challenged neighbors sends a chill up my spine.

Maybe the problem is simply that so many of them cannot pass the 69IQ threshold, that they want to lower the bar so SOMEONE can get gassed. What's the point of having the right to kill your citizens if you don't exercise it!

Ok, so maybe questioning the Tennessee population's intelligence is politically incorrect. Admitted. How about if I question their morality? Or their level of education? Or their ability to be sympathetic to someone less fortunate? Or how about if I just cut to the chase and question their so-called Christian values?

Do you know why we don't execute people with IQs under 70 for homicide crimes? Because the law presumes that individuals with IQs that low are not responsible for their actions, cannot form the necessary criminal intent, do not fully appreciate the wrongness of their actions.

Both adults and children with mental retardation may also exhibit some or all of the following characteristics:

Delays in oral language development

Deficits in memory skills

Difficulty learning social rules

Difficulty with problem solving skills

Delays in the development of adaptive behaviors such as self-help or self-care skills

Lack of social inhibitors

Citation here.

If you know someone with an IQ below 70, or if you have ever spoken with someone with an IQ that low, you know that no further evidence is needed to take the death penalty off the table. Such individuals are "innocents" despite the acts they might have committed or might commit in the future.

But the reason I decided to enter this discussion was not the article. It was the moronic comment. (See photo above)

First, there is no constitutional right to be executed, you ignorant tea bagger! In fact, the law protects these individuals' constitutional rights by preventing them from being executed without evidence of criminal intentions.

Second, the limitation on executing mentally retarded individuals is not about their being ignorant of the law. It is about their inability to form the necessary criminal intent. (Yes, I know. It is very nuanced. It requires thinkin' and concentratin' and openin' your mind and all.)

It occurred to me as I was writing this that maybe Bubba the Commenter is facing a murder trial and wanted to start building that case that his IQ is below 70. He's convinced me!