May Tennessee evade the constitutional mandate of Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U.S. 304 (2002) via legislative inaction and judicial abdication?

QUESTION PRESENTED Myr. Dellinger has a full-scale I.Q. of 69; he never could read, write, figure out which restroom to use, buy bread, or measure a board. His adaptive deficits were obvious and profound as a child, even before he was kicked in the head by a horse. No court has ever considered the proof of his disability, because the Tennessee courts have found, “as far as we are able to discern, Petitioner has no state court remedy in order to present his claim that the sentence of death is void due to his alleged intellectual disability.” Apx. 9a. The Tennessee courts recognize that the state has “no business executing the intellectually disabled,” but, also hold that there is no present statutory remedy available for prisoners like Mr. Dellinger. Apx. 4a, 9a (citing Keen v. State, 398 S.W.3d 594, 613 (Tenn. 2012)). The Tennessee Supreme Court left it to the Tennessee legislature to “create a procedure that accommodates prisoners on death row whose intellectual disability claims cannot be raised under [current Tennessee law].” Apx. 9a (citing Keen, 398 S.W.3d at 613). The Court of Criminal Appeals noted that “(t]he General Assembly is in its seventh session since Keen was filed and no legislation establishing a procedure mentioned in Keen has become law.” Apx. 9a. Mr. Dellinger’s case presents this question: May Tennessee evade the constitutional mandate of Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U.S. 304 (2002) via legislative inaction and judicial abdication? That is, may a state thwart the Constitutional prohibition against execution of the intellectually disabled by failing to provide a procedural vehicle for the adjudication of an Atkins exemption claim? 1 OPINIONS BELOW The opinion of the Court of Criminal Appeals below is unreported. De/linger v. State, No. (Tenn.Crim.App. April 17, 2019); Apx. la. The Tennessee Supreme Court denied permission to appeal. Dellinger v. State, No. (Tenn. August 14, 2019); Apx. 12a.