Motion for leave to file volume iv of the joint appendix under seal filed by petitioners ralph baze, et al. Where it is feasible, a syllabus headnote will be released, as is being done in connection with this case, at the time the opinion is issued. Syllabus opinion roberts concurrence alito concurrence stevens concurrence scalia concurrence thomas concurrence breyer dissent ginsburg html version pdf version. The stay was granted to allow the defendant time to file a cert. Rees administrative proceeding supreme court of the united states, case no. Wests likelihood ofsuccess on thelegal merits ofhis claims. This philosophical debate, however, is misplaced in this case. Joint appendix volume iv amicus briefs brief for the american civi liberties union of kentucky and the rutherford institute in support of pet.
On writ of certiorari to the supreme court of kentucky brief of human rights watch as amicus curiae in support of petitioners brett dignam yale law school supreme court clinic 127 wall street new haven, ct 06511 203 4324800. Pending that decision, the motion to dismiss raising the time limit issue was transferred to commissioner rees for decision. Rees, cruel and unusual punishment, proportionality jurisprudence, eighth amendment. Rees that the kentucky threedrug cocktail formula was not unconstitutionally cruel and unusual. That motion is still pending before this court at the time this brief is being submitted. The lethal injection method calls for the administration of four drugs. Two kentucky inmates challenged the states fourdrug lethal injection protocol. Following a saline flush, the inmate is injected with fifty milligrams of pancuronium bromide, a neuromuscular blocking agent used to paralyze the inmates voluntary muscles. Ray hobbs, director, arkansas department of correction respondent.
In contrast, the state of kentucky argues that a method of execution amounts to cruel and unusual punishment if it creates a substantial risk of unnecessary pain. On writ of certiorari to the supreme court of kentucky brief amicus curiaeof the american civil liberties union, the aclu of kentucky, and the rutherford institute in support of petitioners john holdridge counsel of record. The syllabus constitutes no part of the opinion of the court but has been prepared by the reporter of decisions for the convenience of the. If an insufficient dose is initially administered through the primary iv site, an. These two organizations joined forces to file an amicus brief in baze exposing several aspects of the secrecy in which the entire lethal injection process is shrouded. In the supreme court of the united states glossip v. Participants spoke to reporters on the steps of the u. Rees is an opinion representing fractured views ofthe supreme courtjustices. Specifically, in that case it is decided in that case that the risk was to be 14 evaluated against known and available protocol 15 alteratives, which would, in fact, significantly. At least thirty states use the exact combination of drugs used in kentucky. Institute provided some such sunlight in the baze v. The third drug in the adoc protocol has always been potassium chloride, and the second drug has always been a paralytic agenteither pancuronium bromide or rocuronium bromide. On may 20, 2008, the governor rescheduled schwabs execution date for july 1, 2008.
Where the credited, credible, and unassailable evidence at trial proves with certainty that a lethal injection protocol will inflict severe pain and mental anguish on an inmate by causing the inmate to feel and experience pulmonary edema. Rees, commissioner, kentucky department of corrections, et al. The ninth circuit affirmed the district courts order, morales v. Schwabs execution was initially scheduled for november 15, 2007, but the united states supreme court issued a stay while it considered a challenge to kentuckys lethal injection protocol in baze v. Rees andthelancetarticle footnote do notdetractfrommr. But the high court has unambiguously required a plaintiff mounting a successful challenge to a method of execution to plead and if he seeks a. Nov 26, 2007 download november 26, 2007 argument calendar pdf click here for 2006 docket many documents listed on this page are pdf files that may be viewed using adobereader. Rees, the supreme court of the united states upheld the constitutionality of a method of lethal injection used for capital punishment. Download november 26, 2007 argument calendar pdf click here for 2006 docket many documents listed on this page are pdf files that may be viewed using adobereader. In the supreme court of the united states ralph baze, et al. Supreme court of the united states juvenile law center. The courts have held that the plurality opinionwritten bychiefjustice roberts is controlling. Jan 07, 2008 baze and bowling argue that the specific drug cocktail used, along with kentuckys inadequate administrative procedures and untrained personnel, create this risk.
On november 22, 2006, the kentucky supreme court judge wintersheimer affirmed the decision of the circuit court, holding that the lethal injection procedures as modified would not violate the rights of the plaintiffs to be free from cruel and unusual punishment. Rees syllabus team members must have at least one year of relevant professional experience, and the presence of the warden and deputy warden in the execution chamber allows them to watch for iv problems. Rees will engender future collateral attacks on the death penalty jenna zerylnick. West to prove that the revised protocol creates an objectively intolerable risk of harm that qualifies as cruel and unusual. However, they subsequently concluded that they could not proceed for reasons of medical ethics. Supplemental reply brief of petitioners ralph baze, et al. Merits briefs brief for petitioner ralph baze, et al. Two inmates in the kentucky prison system questioned the use of the three drugs used in combination for lethal injection, claiming it violated the eighth amendment. Rees, reasonable people of good faith disagree on the morality and efficacy of capital punishment, and for many who oppose it, no method of execution would ever be acceptable. Supreme court of the united states on writs of certiorari to the court of criminal appeals of alabama and the supreme court of arkansas a 800 2743321 800 3596859 evan miller petitioner, v. They argued that executing them by lethal injection would violate the eighth amendment. Brief amici curiae of american civil liberties union, et al. Many documents listed on this page are pdf files that may be viewed using. Rees, which ostensibly established the test for determining whether a method of execution violates the eighth amendments ban on cruel and unusual punishment, and further determined that kentuckys threedrug lethal injection procedure satisfied that standard.
Antideathpenalty advocates then pressured pharmaceutical companies to prevent sodium thiopental and, later, another barbiturate called pentobarbital from being used in executions. Kentucky has adopted a method of execution believed to be the most humane available, one it shares with 35 other states. The us supreme court granted a stay of execution on november 15, 2007 and denied certiorari may 19, 2008, which effectively dissolved the stay of schwab v. The death penalty itself, of course, brings with it serious risks, for example, risks of executing the wrong person, see, e. Because kentucky conducted only one execution by lethal injection, the court had a limited access to judge the risks. Bowling brought a civil suit against the state of kentucky in franklin circuit court, claiming that the lethal injection procedure that the state uses creates an unnecessary risk of pain and suffering and is thus in violation of the eighth amendment.
The supreme court of the united states scotus is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the united states. Rees, 2 the court affirmed the constitutionality of the threedrug proto col used in lethal injections in the united states, holding that a states. Rees aclu amicus brief american civil liberties union. States have kept the execution process shrouded in secrecy, l. Rees in the context of the supreme courts eighth amendment proportionality jurisprudence. View essay baze vs rees case brief2015 final from criminal j 300 at metropolitan state university of denver.
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