No. 18-1249

Christopher Lee Price v. Jefferson S. Dunn, Commissioner, Alabama Department of Corrections, et al.

Lower Court: Eleventh Circuit
Docketed: 2019-03-27
Status: Denied
Type: Paid
Tags: compounding-pharmacy cruel-and-unusual-punishment eighth-amendment execution-protocol lethal-injection midazolam pentobarbital
Latest Conference: 2019-05-09
Question Presented (from Petition)

(1) Has an Alabama death row inmate shown that pentobarbital is "available" to the ADOC where he proves that pentobarbital is easily made by any compounding pharmacy, multiple states are presently able to obtain the drug for use in executions, and the ADOC failed to undertake "ordinary transactional efforts" to obtain the drug?

(2) If a state's lethal injection protocol will cause the inmate to experience gruesome and brutal pain, is the state entitled to proceed with the execution anyways, merely because the state cannot immediately obtain alternative drugs known to be effective in accomplishing a humane lethal injection execution?

Question Presented (AI Summary)

Whether an Alabama death row inmate has shown that pentobarbital is 'available' to the Alabama Department of Corrections for use in executions

Docket Entries

2019-05-13
Petition DENIED. Justice Thomas, with whom Justice Alito and Justice Gorsuch join, concurring in the denial of certiorari. (Detached Opinion)
2019-04-23
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 5/9/2019.
2019-04-19
Reply of petitioner Christopher Lee Price filed.
2019-04-09
Brief of respondents Jefferson S. Dunn, Commissioner, Alabama Department of Corrections, et al. in opposition filed.
2019-03-26
Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due April 26, 2019)

Attorneys

Christopher Lee Price
Aaron Michael KatzRopes & Gray LLP, Petitioner
Jonathan Robert Ference-BurkeRopes & Gray LLP, Petitioner
State of Alabama
Lauren Ashley SimpsonOffice of the Attorney General State of Alabama, Respondent