Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/14pdf/14-7955_aplc.pdf
Page Number: 118

22 

GLOSSIP v. GROSS 

SOTOMAYOR, J., dissenting 

[petitioners’] claims regarding the inherent characteristics 
of midazolam.”  Warner, 776 F. 3d, at 733. 

C 
The  Court  not  only  disregards  this  record  evidence  of 
midazolam’s  inadequacy,  but  also  fails  to  fully  appreciate 
the procedural posture in which this case arises.  Petition­
ers have not been accorded a full hearing on the merits of
their  claim.  They  were  granted  only  an  abbreviated  evi­
dentiary  proceeding  that  began  less  than  three  months
after the State issued its amended execution protocol; they 
did  not  even  have  the  opportunity  to  present  rebuttal
evidence after Dr. Evans testified.  They sought a prelimi­
nary injunction, and thus were not required to prove their 
claim, but only to show that they were likely to succeed on 
the  merits.  See  Winter  v.  Natural  Resources  Defense 
Council,  Inc.,  555  U. S.  7,  20  (2008);  Hill  v.  McDonough, 
547 U. S. 573, 584 (2006).

Perhaps  the  State  could  prevail  after  a  full  hearing,
though  this  would  require  more  than  Dr.  Evans’  unsup­
ported  testimony.  At  the  preliminary  injunction  stage,
however,  petitioners  presented  compelling  evidence  sug­
gesting that midazolam will not work as the State intends. 
The  State,  by  contrast,  offered  absolutely  no  contrary
evidence worth crediting.  Petitioners are thus at the very
least  likely  to  prove  that,  due  to  midazolam’s  inherent
deficiencies,  there  is  a  constitutionally  intolerable  risk 
that they will be awake, yet unable to move, while chemi­
cals  known  to  cause  “excruciating  pain”  course  through
their veins.  Baze, 553 U. S., at 71 (Stevens, J., concurring 
in judgment). 

III 

The  Court’s  determination  that  the  use  of  midazolam 

poses  no  objectively  intolerable  risk  of  severe  pain  is  fac­
tually  wrong.    The  Court’s  conclusion  that  petitioners’