The federal courts had not yet addressed this question in the context of intellectual disability. The trial court therefore looked to a then-recent Supreme Court decision holding that deliberate indifference to serious medical needs of prisoners constitutes "unnecessary and wanton infliction of pain" in violation of the 8th Amendment.
The federal courts had not yet dealt with this issue in the context of intellectual disability. The trial court, therefore, referred to a recent Supreme Court ruling stating that ignoring serious medical needs of prisoners constitutes "unnecessary and wanton infliction of pain" as a violation of the 8th Amendment.