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Michelle Vaughn
11/13/16 Glossip v. Gross
U.S. Supreme Court
576 US _ (2015)
Facts: Oklahoma executes death-row inmates by using a lethal injection protocol that consists of
three drugs: a sedative, a drug that paralyzes the lungs, and a drug that causes cardiac arrest.
Prior to 2014, Oklahoma used either sodium thiopental or pentobarbital as the initial sedative in
the lethal injection protocol. Pharmaceutical companies decided to no longer supply the sedatives
used for executions. To continue carrying out executions, Oklahoma began using a drug called
midazolam as the sedative. This drug was intended to make the prisoner unconscious before
administering the two drugs that cause death. However, midazolam did not have this affect
during when Oklahoma executed the prisoner Clayton Lockett. Instead of having a painless
execution, he experienced “severe pain, needless suffering and a lingering death.”
Procedural History: As a result of Clayton Lockett’s botched execution, Oklahoma death-row
inmates ” because they believed the use of midazolam, in particular the high risk of pain associated with the
drug, violates the Constitutional ban against the use of cruel and unusual punishment. In addition, four
inmates – Warner, Glossip, - sought a preliminary injunction from the District Court to stop their executions
from being carried out. A federal district court denied their motion because the inmates did not provide
sufficient evidence demonstrating midazolam would produce a severe risk of pain. In addition, they did not
