TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Stacey Shrader Joslin on Jan 26, 2015

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case challenging the use of the sedative midazolam in executions by lethal injection, the Associated Press reports. The case, brought by death row inmates in Oklahoma, argues that the sedative is unconstitutional because it has no pain-relieving properties and that the state “hastily” chose to use it after sodium thiopental became unavailable. The case will be the first death penalty question taken up by the high court since 2008 when it approved the use of three drugs that became the standard combination used in lethal injections. The ABA Journal has the story.