“Gosh, we’re putting somebody to death, we should have a 100% confidence level” -- Justice Sotomayor, Hall v. Florida 2014

The Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution bars the infliction of cruel and unusual punishments.  On Monday, March 3, 2014, the Supreme Court heard arguments in Hall v. Florida, a case that presents the biggest challenge to the death penalty in over a decade; the Court is being asked to decide if under the Eighth Amendment, Florida can put to death a man who may be mentally delayed given its statutory scheme for determining "mental retardation."  If this sounds familiar it is because in 2002, the Court decided Atkins v. Virginia, in which it held that “executions of mentally retarded criminals were cruel and unusual punishments prohibited by the Eighth Amendment.”  However, in Atkins, the Court also left it to the states to “enforce the constitutional restriction” it announced, which is where Hall v. Florida comes in.