IQ requirement for death penalty

Austin American-statesman
Category: death penalty
Level: state
This article is concerning an enacted policy that affects individuals and families.

Importance for individuals/families:
There is a policy in place that prohibits those classified as mentally disabled from being put to death. This protects those who may not fully understand the situation or circumstances from undergoing lethal injection.

My views:
I'm not exactly sure how I feel about this one. The federal law that prohibits the mentally disabled from being put to death stipulates that each state can make it's own decision on what qualifies as mentally disabled. With that being said, the current case in Florida seems open and shut to me. Florida's IQ requirement for mental disability is 70, the inmate in question scored between 71 and 80 on three IQ tests. According to the policy, that man is intelligent enough to be considered for lethal injection. I'm assuming the appeal was made because his scores were so close to the cutoff that there was uncertainty as to whether or not he should qualify as mentally disabled. The ruling was upheld however, it was noted that there is no national consensus on how to determine mental disability. In my opinion, once a limit has been set it should be followed consistently. If the limit is 70 and an inmate scores a 71 but they are let off because they are so close to 70 than the new limit should be 71 for everyone. There can't be exceptions just because it's a close call. The system must be fair and equal and having a fixed requirement allows that.