Saved by the Gavel

On June 20, the Supreme Court effectively halted the execution of mentally retarded offenders.

In a 6-3 vote, the high court barred the execution of Daryl Renard Atkins, who was sentenced to death for the 1996 murder of a U.S. airman in Virginia. Atkins has an IQ of 59, a score that indicates mild retardation, according to the American Association of Mental Retardation.

The court's decision was based in part on what the justices termed a "growing national consensus" that the mentally retarded should not face execution. A recent Gallup poll found that 83 percent of Americans favor exempting the retarded from the death penalty.

Japan and Kyrgyzstan are the only countries that continue to execute mentally retarded criminals, according to a United Nations report.