Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/14pdf/14-7955_aplc.pdf
Page Number: 10

6 

GLOSSIP v. GROSS 

Opinion of the Court 

cutions.  See  Bonner,  supra.  That  manufacturer  opposed 
the death penalty and took steps to block the shipment of
pentobarbital  for  use  in  executions  in  the  United  States.
Stein,  New  Obstacle  to  Death  Penalty  in  U. S.,  Washing-
ton  Post,  July  3,  2011,  p.  A4.    Oklahoma  eventually  be-
came unable to acquire the drug through any means.  The 
District  Court  below  found  that  both  sodium  thiopental 
and pentobarbital are now unavailable to Oklahoma.  App. 
67–68. 

C 
Unable to acquire either sodium thiopental or pentobar-
bital, some States have turned to midazolam, a sedative in 
the  benzodiazepine  family  of  drugs.    In  October  2013, 
Florida became the first State to substitute midazolam for 
pentobarbital  as  part  of  a  three-drug  lethal  injection  pro-
tocol.  Fernandez, Executions Stall As States Seek Differ-
ent  Drugs,  N. Y.  Times,  Nov.  9,  2013,  p.  A1.    To  date, 
Florida  has  conducted  11  executions  using  that  protocol,
which  calls  for  midazolam  followed  by  a  paralytic  agent 
and  potassium  chloride.  See  Brief  for  State  of  Florida  as 
Amicus  Curiae  2–3;  Chavez  v.  Florida  SP  Warden,  742 
F. 3d  1267,  1269  (CA11  2014).    In  2014,  Oklahoma  also 
substituted  midazolam  for  pentobarbital  as  part  of  its
three-drug  protocol.  Oklahoma  has  already  used  this 
three-drug  protocol  twice:  to  execute  Clayton  Lockett  in 
April 2014 and Charles Warner in January 2015.  (Warner 
was one of the four inmates who moved for a preliminary 
injunction in this case.)

The  Lockett  execution  caused  Oklahoma  to  implement 
new safety precautions as part of its lethal injection proto-
col.  When Oklahoma executed Lockett, its protocol called 
for the administration of 100 milligrams of midazolam, as
compared  to  the  500  milligrams  that  are  currently  re-
quired.  On  the  morning  of  his  execution,  Lockett  cut 
himself twice at “ ‘the bend of the elbow.’ ”  App. 50.  That