In Powell v. Allen, No. 08-16784 (April 8, 2010), the Court affirmed the denial of habeas relief to an Alabama death row inmate.
The Court, inter alia, rejected Powell’s claim that he is sufficiently mentally retarded that his execution is constitutionally barred. The Court noted that a finding of mental retardation requires both significantly subaverage intellectual functioning and significant deficits in adaptive functioning. Powell failed to plead facts to establish these findings.
