United States | Texas v science

The Supreme Court is set to review a death sentence grounded in fiction

Texas has been criticised for using a character from literature to evaluate intellectual disability

By S.M. | NEW YORK

FANS of “Of Mice and Men”, the 1937 novella by John Steinbeck, will recall the character of Lennie Small, an oafish, dim-witted man whose physical strength is ill matched to his love of rabbits. On November 29th, in a remarkable example of law imitating art, a hearing at the Supreme Court will put Lennie back in the spotlight. The question is whether the fictional man’s intellectual profile should help determine the fate of Bobby Moore, a real-life Texan awaiting execution.

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