In Fall 2018, SCOTUS will consider two cases that deal with the death penalty:

1. Bucklew v. Precythe

Bucklew v. Precythe, SCOTUS Docket No. 17-8151, asks SCOTUS to consider if the medical condition of a Death Row Inmate can cause the lethal injection method of execution to be “cruel and unusual” punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment.

Issues Presented

  1. Should a court evaluating an as-applied challenge to a state’s method of execution based on an inmate’s rare and severe medical condition assume that medical personnel are competent to manage his condition and that the procedure will go as intended?
  2. Must evidence comparing a state’s proposed method of execution with an alternative proposed by an inmate be offered via a single witness, or should a court at summary judgment look to the record as a whole to determine whether a factfinder could conclude that the two methods significantly differ in the risks they pose to the inmate?
  3. Does the Eighth Amendment require an inmate to prove an adequate alternative method of execution when raising an as-applied challenge to the state’s proposed method of execution based on his rare and severe medical condition?

Read the Petition for Writ of Certiorari.

Read the Amicus Curaie Brief filed by the American Civil Liberties Union.

Underlying Facts

Russell Bucklew suffers from a congenital medical condition that may well cause him to hemorrhage during any execution involving lethal injection where he would potentially choke on his own blood.

Mr. Bucklew offers the alternative execution method of death by nitrogen hypoxia.

He also requests that to be informed of the medical qualifications of two executioners (members of the Missouri lethal injection team).  Bucklew alleges they may not have the qualifications necessary for the position of lethal injection executioner.

Oral Argument

Bucklew is scheduled for oral argument on November 6, 2018.

 

 

2.  Madison v. Alabama

Madison v. Alabama, SCOTUS Docket No. 17-7505, asks the Supreme Court to consider whether or not it violates the federal constitution to allow an individual to be executed when he or she cannot remember the crime for which they have been sentenced to death.

Issues Presented

  1. Consistent with the Eighth Amendment, and this Court’s decisions in Ford and Panetti, may the State execute a prisoner whose mental disability leaves him without memory of his commission of the capital offense? See Dunn v. Madison, 138 S. Ct. 9, 12 (Nov. 6, 2017) (Ginsburg, J., with Breyer, J., and Sotomayor, J., concurring).
  2. Do evolving standards of decency and the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment bar the execution of a prisoner whose competency has been compromised by vascular dementia and multiple strokes causing severe cognitive dysfunction and a degenerative medical condition which prevents him from remembering the crime for which he was convicted or understanding the circumstances of his scheduled execution?

Underlying Facts

During the 30 years that Vernon Madison has spent on Alabama’s Death Row, he has had several strokes and now suffers from dementia.  Mr. Madison cannot remember his arrest, his trial, much less the underlying crime for which he was convicted.

Read the Petition for Writ of Certiorari.

Read the Amicus Curaie Brief submitted by the American Psychological Association.

Oral Argument

Madison was argued on October 2, 2018.  Read the oral argument transcript here.