lethal-injection
37 cases — ← All topics
| Case | Title | Lower Court | Docketed | Status | Flags | Tags | Question Presented |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25-6746 | Ronald Palmer Heath v. Florida, et al. | Florida | 2026-02-06 | Denied | IFP | eighth-amendment lethal-injection maladministration method-of-execution pleading-requirements severe-harm | Is a narrowly tailored Eighth Amendment claim based on a State's documented, repeated maladministration of its chosen method of execution subject to t… |
| 25-6382 | Frank A. Walls v. Ricky D. Dixon, Secretary, Florida Department of Corrections, et al. | Eleventh Circuit | 2025-12-16 | Denied | IFP | constitutional-challenge eighth-amendment federal-review lethal-injection method-of-execution undue-delay | Whether the Eleventh Circuit erred in denying review of a death row inmate's method-of-execution challenge based solely on undue delay, despite newly … |
| 25-6317 | Harold Wayne Nichols v. Jonathan Skrmetti, Attorney General of Tennessee, et al. | Sixth Circuit | 2025-12-08 | Denied | IFP | civil-procedure cruel-and-unusual-punishment eighth-amendment lethal-injection method-of-execution statute-of-limitations | Does the State of Tennessee's adoption of a new lethal injection protocol and a new lethal injection drug result in a substantial change that resets t… |
| 24A1279 | Richard Jordan v. Mississippi State Executioner, et al. | Fifth Circuit | 2025-06-25 | Denied | alternative-method chemical-paralytic eighth-amendment execution-protocol lethal-injection midazolam | Whether the Eighth Amendment prohibits the use of a three-drug lethal injection protocol that includes midazolam, a chemical paralytic, and potassium … | |
| 24-7491 | Richard Jordan v. Mississippi State Executioner, et al. | Fifth Circuit | 2025-06-25 | Denied | IFP | chemical-paralytic constitutional-challenge eighth-amendment lethal-injection method-of-execution prisoner-rights | Whether a method-of-execution challenge requires comparing the proposed lethal injection protocol to known alternative methods under the Eighth Amendm… |
| 24-7169 | Glen Edward Rogers v. Florida | Florida | 2025-05-09 | Denied | IFP | capital-punishment due-process fourteenth-amendment lethal-injection post-conviction procedural-rules | Whether Florida's successive pleading requirements under Rule 3.851(d) violate a capital defendant's due process rights in a post-warrant context and … |
| 24-6709 | Brad Keith Sigmon v. South Carolina | South Carolina | 2025-03-05 | Denied | IFP | death-penalty due-process execution-method lethal-injection prisoner-rights statutory-right | Does South Carolina's compressed timeline and arbitrary denial of information necessary for a condemned prisoner to exercise his statutory right 'neve… |
| 24-5603 | Freddie Owens v. Bryan Stirling, Director, South Carolina Department of Corrections, et al. | Fourth Circuit | 2024-09-20 | Denied | IFP | due-process execution-methods informed-choice lethal-injection procedural-rights state-action | Whether South Carolina's refusal to provide information about execution drugs violates a death row inmate's due process rights when choosing a method … |
| 24-5389 | Loran Cole v. Florida | Florida | 2024-08-26 | Denied | IFP | baze-glossip-test due-process equal-protection fourteenth-amendment lethal-injection parkinson's-disease | Whether Florida courts violated Cole's Fourteenth Amendment Due Process and Equal Protection rights by failing to hold an evidentiary hearing on his a… |
| 24A159 | LeGregory Davis v. Louisiana | Louisiana | 2024-08-09 | Presumed Complete | capital-punishment constitutional-violation death-penalty eighth-amendment lethal-injection procedural-due-process | Whether the Eighth Amendment prohibits the execution of a death row inmate based on claims of procedural irregularities or constitutional violations i… | |
| 23-6830 | Thomas E. Creech v. Josh Tewalt, Director, Idaho Department of Correction, et al. | Ninth Circuit | 2024-02-26 | Denied | IFP | civil-rights constitutional-challenge criminal-procedure death-penalty due-process eighth-amendment execution-secrecy lethal-injection | Whether it comports with due process for a state to refuse to provide a condemned inmate information about his method of execution that would enable h… |
| 23A664 | Kenneth Eugene Smith v. Alabama | Alabama | 2024-01-19 | Denied | cruel-and-unusual death-penalty eighth-amendment execution-attempt iv-access lethal-injection | Whether the Eighth Amendment prohibits a state from executing a condemned prisoner after multiple failed execution attempts involving repeated difficu… | |
| 23-6517 | Kenneth Eugene Smith v. Alabama | Alabama | 2024-01-19 | Denied | IFP | constitutional-rights cruel-and-unusual-punishment eighth-amendment fourteenth-amendment lethal-injection method-of-execution nitrogen-hypoxia posttraumatic-stress-disorder | Does a second attempt to execute a condemned person following a single, cruelly willful attempt to execute that same person violate the prohibition ag… |
| 23A444 | David Santiago Renteria v. Texas | Texas | 2023-11-16 | Denied | cruel-and-unusual degraded-drugs due-process eighth-amendment execution-protocol lethal-injection | Whether the Eighth Amendment prohibits the use of degraded, unstable lethal injection drugs that pose a substantial risk of causing severe pain during… | |
| 23A316 | Jedidiah Isaac Murphy v. Texas | Texas | 2023-10-10 | Denied | cruel-and-unusual-punishment drug-safety due-process eighth-amendment execution-method lethal-injection | Whether the Eighth Amendment and state-created liberty interests prohibit executing a prisoner with lethal injection drugs that were exposed to extrem… | |
| 23-5145 | James Edward Barber v. Kay Ivey, Governor of Alabama, et al. | Eleventh Circuit | 2023-07-20 | Denied | IFP | constitutional-rights cruel-and-unusual-punishment eighth-amendment emotional-anguish execution execution-protocol lethal-injection medical-suffering physical-suffering | Did the Eleventh Circuit correctly hold that no amount of physical suffering and emotional anguish imposed by allowing hours-long and countless attemp… |
| 21-439 | Michael Nance v. Timothy C. Ward, Commissioner, Georgia Department of Corrections, et al. | Eleventh Circuit | 2021-09-22 | Judgment Issued | Amici (7)Relisted (2) | alternative-execution civil-rights due-process habeas habeas-corpus lethal-injection method-of-execution ripeness section-1983 successive-petition | Whether an inmate's as-applied method-of-execution challenge must be raised in a habeas petition instead of through a § 1983 action if the inmate plea… |
| 20-5243 | Warren K. Henness v. Mike DeWine, et al. | Sixth Circuit | 2020-08-03 | Denied | Amici (3)IFP | alternative-methods cruel-and-unusual-punishment death-penalty eighth-amendment lethal-injection medical-aid-in-dying | Whether the Eighth Amendment categorically permits the degree of pain caused by hanging |
| 20-5168 | James Wilson v. North Carolina | North Carolina | 2020-07-24 | Denied | IFP | 8th-amendment civil-rights cruel-and-unusual-punishment due-process execution-methods lethal-injection | Whether the petitioner's manner of execution is unconstitutionally cruel and unusual punishment |
| 19-235 | Richard Jordan, et al. v. Virginia Department of Corrections | Fourth Circuit | 2019-08-22 | Denied | burden-of-proof civil-rights corrections-department death-penalty discovery discovery-rights due-process eighth-amendment glossip-standard glossip-v-gross lethal-injection method-of-execution section-1983 standing | Whether the burden of proof demanded by Glossip in method-of-execution challenges requires commensurately broad discovery rights to provide plaintiffs… | |
| 19-5561 | Stephen Michael West v. Tony Parker, Commissioner, Tennessee Department of Correction, et al. | Sixth Circuit | 2019-08-12 | Denied | IFP | 8th-amendment bucklew-standard bucklew-v-precythe civil-procedure civil-rights due-process eighth-amendment lethal-injection method-of-execution res-judicata section-1983 standing | When an inmate's § 1983 challenge to a state's method of execution meets the timeliness and pleading requirements of this Court's decision in Bucklew,… |
| 18A1238 | Christopher Lee Price v. Jefferson S. Dunn, Commissioner, Alabama Department of Corrections, et al. | Eleventh Circuit | 2019-05-29 | Presumed Complete | cruel-and-unusual eighth-amendment execution-protocol lethal-injection midazolam pain-and-suffering | Whether Alabama's lethal injection protocol using midazolam violates the Eighth Amendment by posing a substantial risk of causing severe and excruciat… | |
| 18-9396 | Bobby Joe Long v. Mark S. Inch, Secretary, Florida Department of Corrections, et al. | Eleventh Circuit | 2019-05-23 | Denied | IFP | 8th-amendment civil-rights cruel-and-unusual-punishment cruel-unusual-punishment death-penalty due-process eighth-amendment lethal-injection res-judicata section-1983 stay | Whether the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals erred in holding that Mr. Long was not entitled to a stay because of inexcusable delay in bringing his l… |
| 18-8766 | Christopher Lee Price v. Jefferson S. Dunn, Commissioner, Alabama Department of Corrections, et al. | Eleventh Circuit | 2019-04-11 | Denied | IFP | appellate-review bucklew-standard civil-rights due-process evidence lethal-injection method-of-execution nitrogen-hypoxia preliminary-injunction standing | Whether a district court can make factual findings based on evidence that may not be admissible at trial |
| 18-1249 | Christopher Lee Price v. Jefferson S. Dunn, Commissioner, Alabama Department of Corrections, et al. | Eleventh Circuit | 2019-03-27 | Denied | compounding-pharmacy cruel-and-unusual-punishment eighth-amendment execution-protocol lethal-injection midazolam pentobarbital | Whether an Alabama death row inmate has shown that pentobarbital is 'available' to the Alabama Department of Corrections for use in executions | |
| 18-6970 | Jose Antonio Jimenez v. Florida | Florida | 2018-12-10 | Denied | IFP | brady-disclosure brady-v-maryland credibility due-process eighth-amendment exculpatory-evidence giglio-v-united-states giglio-violation lethal-injection materiality police-misconduct strategic-choices | Whether a defendant's personal knowledge of an exculpatory or favorable fact relieves the State of its duty to disclose evidence |
| 18-6906 | David E. Miller v. Tony Parker, Commissioner, Tennessee Department of Correction, et al. | Sixth Circuit | 2018-12-03 | Denied | IFP | coercion cruel-and-unusual-punishment death-penalty eighth-amendment ex-post-facto execution-method lethal-injection waiver waiver-of-rights | When an inmate alleges that both his original and later-imposed punishments for the same crime violate the Eighth Amendment but the later-imposed puni… |
| 18-6739 | David Earl Miller, et al. v. Tony Parker, Commissioner, Tennessee Department of Correction, et al. | Tennessee | 2018-11-19 | Denied | IFP | 8th-amendment alternative-method available-alternative due-process facial-challenge fourteenth-amendment glossip-standard glossip-v-gross lethal-injection | Whether under Glossip v. Gross, inmates raising a facial challenge to one of two methods contained in a State's lethal injection protocol must present… |
| 18-6238 | Edmund Zagorski v. Tony Parker, Commissioner, Tennessee Department of Corrections, et al. | Tennessee | 2018-10-09 | Denied | IFP | constitutional-rights cruel-and-unusual-punishment cruel-unusual-punishment due-process eighth-amendment execution-methods execution-protocol feasible-alternative fourteenth-amendment lethal-injection state-secrecy | Where the credited, credible, and unassailable evidence at trial proves with certainty that a lethal injection protocol will inflict severe pain and m… |
| 18-5240 | Roy Lee Ward v. Robert E. Carter, Jr., Commissioner, Indiana Department of Correction, et al. | Indiana | 2018-07-17 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | capital-punishment due-process fourteenth-amendment lethal-injection lethal-substances notice prisoner-rights state-execution state-prisoners | Whether the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment entitles condemned state prisoners to notice of the lethal substances a state will use to e… |
| 18-5096 | Raymond Tibbetts v. John Kasich, Governor of Ohio, et al. | Sixth Circuit | 2018-07-03 | Denied | IFP | baze-v-rees baze-vs-rees eighth-amendment execution-protocol glossip-v-gross glossip-vs-gross lethal-injection midazolam prisoner-rights scientific-evidence substantial-risk substantial-risk-of-harm substantial-risk-of-serious-harm | Whether a prisoner challenging a midazolam three-drug lethal-injection protocol must prove with scientific evidence that the first drug is sure or ver… |
| 24A753 | Steven Lawayne Nelson v. Texas | Texas | Denied | adequate-independent-state-ground certiorari habeas-corpus lethal-injection post-conviction supreme-court-jurisdiction | Whether the Supreme Court can review a state post-conviction court's decision that lacks a clear and independent state law basis for dismissing a capi… | ||
| 25A669 | Harold Wayne Nichols v. Jonathan Skrmetti, Attorney General of Tennessee, et al. | Sixth Circuit | Denied | due-process equal-protection execution-protocol fourteenth-amendment lethal-injection method-of-execution | Whether the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause prohibits a state from applying disparate execution protocols to death row prisoners withou… | ||
| 24A202 | Loran Cole v. Florida | Florida | Denied | death-penalty due-process eighth-amendment equal-protection lethal-injection parkinson's-disease | Whether the Eighth Amendment prohibits the execution of a death row inmate with Parkinson's disease using lethal injection procedures that may cause n… | ||
| 25A698 | Frank Walls v. Ricky D. Dixon, Secretary, Florida Department of Corrections, et al. | Eleventh Circuit | Denied | cruel-and-unusual death-penalty eighth-amendment lethal-injection medical-vulnerability pulmonary-edema | Whether Florida's three-drug lethal injection protocol violates the Eighth Amendment's prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment when applied to a p… | ||
| 18A1202 | Robert Joe Long v. Florida | Florida | Presumed Complete | cruel-and-unusual death-penalty eighth-amendment etomidate lethal-injection medical-condition | Whether the Eighth Amendment prohibits the use of etomidate in a lethal injection protocol for an inmate with temporal lobe epilepsy and brain damage | ||
| 25A892 | Ronald Palmer Heath v. Florida, et al. | Florida | Denied | cruel-and-unusual drug-administration eighth-amendment lethal-injection method-of-execution protocol-violation | Question not identified. |