James Edward Barber v. Kay Ivey, Governor of Alabama, et al.
Punishment
Did the Eleventh Circuit correctly hold that no amount of physical suffering and emotional anguish imposed by allowing hours-long and countless attempts to establish IV access in a lethal injection execution, including the prospect of a failed execution, can ever violate the Eighth Amendment?
QUESTIONS PRESENTED 1. Did the Eleventh Circuit correctly hold that no amount of physical suffering and emotional anguish imposed by allowing hours-long and countless attempts to establish IV access in a lethal injection execution, including the prospect of a failed execution, can ever violate the Eighth Amendment? 2. Is it sufficient under Baze for a State to respond to repeated and consistent failures to carry out executions without imposing needless physical suffering and mental anguish by merely substituting execution personnel without any different qualifications, and by extending the time allowed to attempt an execution?