Without a noted dissent, the Supreme Court on Wednesday afternoon delayed the scheduled execution of three Oklahoma death-row inmates, whose case the Justices will hear in late April. The executions were put on hold, but only so far as the state would use a specific drug in the procedure — the sedative midazolam. 
 
 Although the order blocked the execution until a final ruling is issued in that case, the fact that the order was specific in forbidding the state temporarily from using only one specific drug left Oklahoma with the option of trying to develop a new lethal-drug protocol that could free it to resume executions. 
 
 The limited nature of the Court’s order reflected the division among the Justices about lethal-drug executions. Last week, by a five-to-four vote, the Court refused to postpone the execution of one Oklahoma inmate, but, a few days later, there were at least four votes to grant review of the three remaining inmates’ challenge to the same protocol Oklahoma had used in the one inmate’s execution. 
 
 State officials then asked the Court for a postponement, either until the case was heard and decided, or until the state could find an alternative method of carrying out executions with lethal drugs — that is, a protocol that would not use midazolam as the first drug in the combination, to bring about unconsciousness so that two other drugs could then be injected to produce paralysis and then death. 
 
 The order that the Justices issued did not have the exact wording that state officials had requested, but appeared likely to have the same effect. Since it only barred execution of these three inmates, and only if midazolam were to be used, the order left the state with at least the option of working out another method, and then returning to the Court for permission to use that alternative. 
 
 Oklahoma had been scheduled to execute the first of these three inmates on Thursday. The second was due to be put to death in February, and the third in March. The order issued Wednesday applied to all three inmates — but only in its limited scope. 
 
 Oklahoma and other states have been struggling for the past two years to find new ways to carry out the death penalty, since a three-drug protocol that the Supreme Court had approved in a ruling in 2008 was no longer available, as drug companies refused to produce the first drug for use in executions. 
 
 Without access to the combination that the Supreme Court had approved, Oklahoma and Florida turned to a combination that began with midazolam. There is a dispute, in this case, among scientific and medical witnesses about whether that sedative — which the federal government has not approved for use as an anesthetic — was capable of producing a deep enough sleep in order for the inmate to experience less pain when the other two drugs were administered. 
 
 If the three inmates case does go all the way to a final decision by the Court, because Oklahoma has not found an alternative protocol, the Justices will have to sort out the conflicting evidence on the use of midazolam. 
 
 Recommended Citation: Lyle Denniston, Oklahoma executions put off, SCOTUSblog (Jan. 28, 2015, 2:58 PM), http://www.scotusblog.com/2015/01/oklahoma-executions-put-off/ ||||| Play Facebook 
 
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 The U.S. Supreme Court issued stays of execution Wednesday for three Oklahoma death-row inmates whose challenge to the state's lethal-injection formula will be heard in the spring. The prisoners include Richard Glossip, who had been scheduled to die Thursday night and whose cause has been championed by prominent capital-punishment opponent Sister Helen Prejean. 
 
 For the first time since 2008, the high court has agreed to hear a challenge to the legality of lethal injection. The Oklahoma case centers on the first of three drugs administered to a condemned inmate — the sedative midazolam, which opponents say isn't strong enough to protect a prisoner from the other two chemicals used. Midazolam has featured in at least three executions that did not unfold as planned. 
 
 Glossip, 51, was convicted twice in the murder-for-hire of his boss. Prejean, who was portrayed in the 1995 movie "Dead Man Walking," is his spiritual adviser and plans to accompany him to the execution chamber if he loses his appeals. At a press conference in Oklahoma on Tuesday, the nun called for repeal of the death penalty in the state. 
 
 "There is no humane way to kill a conscious, imaginative human being," she said. "We the citizens have our name on that gurney." 
 
 Polls have show a majority of Americans still support capital punishment, even after the high-profile botching of Clayton Lockett's execution in Oklahoma in April, which prompted a federal review of lethal-injection protocols. 
 
 In addition to granting Glossip a reprieve, the Supreme Court also issued stays for two other death-row killers — Benajmin Cole and John Grant — who were scheduled for execution in February and March. The Oklahoma attorney general requested the stays until the litigation is resolved. 
 
 “We welcome today’s ruling staying executions in Oklahoma until the Court can addresses serious questions about the state’s risky lethal injection protocol," said defense lawyer Dale Baich. 
 
 "Last year, Oklahoma was responsible for the bungled execution of Clayton Lockett, which relied on an experimental lethal injection protocol and took more than forty minutes to cause death. Midazolam is an inappropriate drug to use in executions. The scientific evidence tells us that even the proper administration of midazolam can result in an inhumane execution. 
 
 "We look forward to exploring these questions with the Court.” 
 
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– Three death-row inmates in Oklahoma now have a much better chance of living long enough to see whether their court challenge to lethal injection is successful. The Supreme Court today ordered Oklahoma to put the executions on hold until the court hears their case in late April, reports NBC News. But SCOTUSblog notes that the ruling is limited: The inmates are challenging the use of a sedative called midazolam, and if Oklahoma can find an alternative in the meantime, the executions could be back on. Either way, the immediate beneficiary is a murderer named Richard Glossip, who was scheduled to be executed tomorrow. Benjamin Cole and John Grant's executions were to take place in February and March. Midazolam is the first of three drugs used in Oklahoma's lethal injection protocol, but the inmates say it doesn't work effectively and thus amounts to cruel and unusual punishment. They cite last year's botched execution in the state as their prime example.