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.
Mr Moore, a man of limited intellectual capacity, was sentenced to death in 1980 after killing a grocery store clerk during a bungled burglary in Houston, Texas. Aged twenty at the time, Mr Moore had not enjoyed a happy or productive childhood. He failed first grade—twice—and was promoted to second grade only to “keep him with children of a similar age”. Subsequent years remained a struggle. Mr Moore, unable to keep up with the lessons, was often relegated to drawing pictures while other students were doing classwork. He endured taunts of “stupid” from classmates, teachers and his own father....Continue reading
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