Tennessee: Bid to stop executions of intellectually disabled KIMBERLEE KRUESI, Associated Press FacebookTwitterEmail NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee lawmakers are inching closer to advancing legislation designed to prevent death row inmates with an intellectual disability from being executed. The proposal has gained a groundswell of support from disability advocates, legal experts and death penalty critics who argue Tennessee is long overdue in addressing the matter. They point to death row inmate Pervis Payne, who defense attorneys argue is intellectually disabled as they fight to prevent the state from executing him. In 2002, the United States Supreme Court ruled that executing a person with an intellectual disability violates the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. However, Tennessee's Supreme Court later determined there was no procedure for death row inmates to reopen their cases to explore intellectual disability claims and encouraged the General Assembly to address the issue.