Baze v. Rees

In Baze v. Rees, the Supreme Court, for the first time in history, heard constitutional challenges to the three-chemical formula that 36 states use to carry out the death penalty by lethal injection. The issue is raised by two Kentucky death row inmates, neither of whom faces an imminent execution date. Their appeal poses three questions dealing with their claim that the particular drug protocol causes unnecessary pain and suffering that could be avoided, and thus violates the Eighth Amendment ban on “cruel and unusual punishment.” The case does not raise the question of whether lethal injection is always unconstitutional; it is an attack only on a specific formula.

This case came down today-very interesting. Here are some links if you're interested:

Wiki

Post of SCOTUSBlog

Oral Argument

The opinion can be downloaded in this post.

Chice