Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/20pdf/20-927_i42k.pdf
Page Number: 11

Cite as:  592 U. S. ____ (2021) 

7 

SOTOMAYOR, J., dissenting 

op., at 3).  Lee and Purkey, however, did not file their claims
at the last minute.  They did so shortly after the DOJ an-
nounced the new protocol and scheduled their executions. 
Nelson raised his claim before his execution was even an-
nounced.  It  was  the  Government,  not  the  inmates,  who 
charged ahead with conducting executions under the chal-
lenged protocol, creating an “artificial claim of urgency to
truncate ordinary procedures of judicial review.”  Id., at ___ 
(SOTOMAYOR, J., dissenting) (slip op., at 1).  The Court con-
doned the Government’s tactics and granted a stay. 

This Court repeated this error just this week.  On Decem-
ber 16, 2020, both Corey Johnson and Dustin Higgs tested
positive for COVID–19.  They quickly moved to enjoin their 
executions, arguing that lung damage caused by the virus 
substantially increased the likelihood they would suffer tor-
turous effects if executed with pentobarbital.  The District 
Court  held  an  evidentiary  proceeding  and  agreed.    In  re 
Federal  Bureau  of  Prisons’  Execution  Protocol  Cases,  ___ 
F. Supp.  3d  ___,  ___–___,  2021  WL  106576,  *5–*9  (DDC, 
Jan. 12, 2021).  This time, the Court of Appeals stayed the
injunction,  relying  on  this  Court’s  flawed  decision  in  Lee. 
Order in Roane v. Rosen, No. 21–5004, p. 4 (CADC, Jan. 13,
2021) (Katsas, J., concurring).  This Court left that ruling 
in place, again allowing these executions to proceed despite 
the District Court’s careful fact-finding and the risk of need-
less and significant pain. 

B 

The  issues  left  unresolved  during  this  saga  do  not  end 
with the FDPA and 2019 Protocol.  Many other challenges
deserved this Court’s review.  None were granted.  While I 
cannot  catalogue  all  these  claims  here,  some  particularly 
troubling ones bear mention.

Consider again Corey Johnson.  In addition to the claim 
already discussed, Johnson sought a reduction of his death 
sentence under the First Step Act of 2018, Pub. L. No. 115–