Editorial: Idaho needs to eradicate capital punishment

The death penalty just doesn’t deliver.

The examples keep mounting, and yet states cling to this act of punishment that packs a temporary emotional wallop but ultimately does more harm than good.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that Florida must lean on more than an IQ score to determine whether death-row inmates are eligible for execution. The ruling could have an impact on several states, including Idaho, that use a test score cutoff to gauge mental capacity. Idaho’s guideline mirrors Florida’s: an IQ higher than 70 qualifies someone for execution. A score of 70 or less means “significantly sub-average general intellectual functioning.”

The high court said IQ tests can’t measure with that kind of precision, and ruled that other assessments must be considered.

In Idaho, the ruling could impact the case of Gerald Pizzuto, who was sentenced to death in 1986 for the murders of two people near McCall. He has registered a verbal IQ test score of 72. The Florida inmate’s score was 71. But the tests have a margin of error.

The high court wrote, “Intellectual disability is a condition, not a number.”

Now lawyers for the Florida inmate will be allowed to present more evidence for why he shouldn’t be executed.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals had been waiting for the ruling in the Florida case to decide how to proceed in the Idaho one. So it looks as if Pizzuto’s attorneys will have another shot at preventing his execution.

This exercise in determining whether someone is of sound mind to be executed underscores just how warped capital punishment has become. This execution, if it ever occurs, will be some 30 years removed from the initial crime.

Pizzuto will die in prison, whether executed or not.

Extensive legal maneuvering is common in capital cases. A study commissioned by the bipartisan Joint Legislative Oversight Committee in Idaho was completed in March, and it found that giving prosecutors the option of seeking the death penalty incurs extra costs.

Examples: Defendants must be assigned two attorneys. The state Supreme Court must conduct a review. Prisons must maintain a level of readiness for executions.

The study confirmed what’s been found in other research: Capital cases cost more than non-capital cases; a large percentage of death penalty sentences are ultimately reduced; and most states with the death penalty rarely use it.

The report notes, “Of the 40 offenders sentenced to death since 1977, three have been executed and 21 have received a new sentence.”

So what purpose is served as Idaho runs up legal bills in the hopes of proving a man is just smart enough to be executed?

If the Legislature is smart, it will use this report to extricate itself from the grotesque business of capital punishment.