3 Tennessee death row inmates lose Supreme Court appeals

WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court has rejected appeals from three Tennessee death-row inmates who say they should not be executed because they are intellectually disabled.

The justices on Monday left in place state court rulings upholding the death sentences of inmates Pervis Payne, Michael Sample and Vincent Sims.

The three men said Tennessee has refused to apply a 2014 Supreme Court ruling that affects inmates with borderline cases of intellectual disability.

The Supreme Court ruling prohibited states in borderline cases from relying only on intelligence test scores to determine whether a death row inmate is eligible to be executed.

The issue in the Tennessee cases was whether that decision should apply to older cases.

The Supreme Court outlawed the execution of intellectually disabled prisoners in 2002.