Glossip v. Gross
| Docket No. | Op. Below | Argument | Opinion | Vote | Author | Term |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14-7955 | 10th Cir. | Apr 29, 2015 | Jun 29, 2015 | 5-4 | Alito | OT 2014 |
Holding: The death-row inmates have failed to establish a likelihood of success on the merits of their claim that the use of midazolam, a sedative, as the first drug in Oklahoma"s lethal injection protocol violates the Eighth Amendment because it fails to render a person insensate to pain.
Judgment: Affirmed, 5-4, in an opinion by Justice Alito on June 29, 2015. Justice Scalia filed a concurring opinion, in which Justice Thomas joined. Justice Thomas filed a concurring opinion in which Justice Scalia joined. Justice Breyer filed a dissenting opinion, in which Justice Ginsburg joined. Justice Sotomayor filed a dissenting opinion, in which Justices Ginsburg, Breyer, and Kagan joined.
SCOTUSblog Coverage
- Symposium: Groundhog Day indeed (Deborah Denno, June 30, 2015)
- Symposium: The Wonderland rules for method-of-execution claims (Steven Schwinn, June 30, 2015)
- Symposium: A major setback for the antidemocratic war of attrition against the death penalty (Kent Scheidegger, June 30, 2015)
- Justices again spurn lethal injection challenge: In Plain English (Amy Howe, June 29, 2015)
- Symposium: The death penalty lives to fight another day (Andrew Brasher, June 29, 2015)
- Justices debate lethal injection and the death penalty: In Plain English (Amy Howe, April 30, 2015)
- Argument analysis: Impatience with death-penalty resistance (Lyle Denniston, April 29, 2015)
- Argument preview: Execution methods: broad or narrow look? (Lyle Denniston, April 25, 2015)
- Oklahoma executions put off (Lyle Denniston, January 28, 2015)
- Oklahoma takes next step on executions (FURTHER UPDATED) (Lyle Denniston, January 26, 2015)
- Court to rule on lethal-injection protocol (Lyle Denniston, January 23, 2015)
| Date | Proceedings and Orders |
|---|---|
| 01/13/2015 | Petition for a writ of certiorari and motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis filed. (Response due February 13, 2015) |
| 01/13/2015 | Application (14A761) for stays of execution of sentences of death, submitted to Justice Sotomayor. |
| 01/14/2015 | Brief of respondent Kevin J. Gross, et al. in opposition filed. |
| 01/14/2015 | Response to application (14A761) from respondent Kevin J. Gross, et al. filed. |
| 01/15/2015 | Reply of petitioner Charles F. Warner, et al. filed. |
| 01/15/2015 | Reply of applicant Charles F. Warner, et al. filed. |
| 01/15/2015 | Application (14A761) referred to the Court. |
| 01/15/2015 | Application (14A761) denied by the Court. JUSTICE SOTOMAYOR, with whom JUSTICE GINSBURG, JUSTICE BREYER, and JUSTICE KAGAN join, dissents. (Detached Opinion) |
| 01/20/2015 | DISTRIBUTED for Conference of January 23, 2015. |
| 01/23/2015 | Motion to proceed in forma pauperis and petition for a writ of certiorari GRANTED. |
| 01/26/2015 | Application (14A796) of Kevin J. Gross, et al. for stays of execution of sentences of death, submitted to Justice Sotomayor. |
| 01/26/2015 | Response in support of application filed. |
| 01/28/2015 | Application (14A796) referred to the Court. |
| 01/28/2015 | Application (14A796) granted by the Court. Respondents |
| 03/04/2015 | Consent to the filing of amicus curiae briefs, in support of either party or of neither party, received from counsel for petitioners. |
| 03/06/2015 | SET FOR ARGUMENT ON Wednesday, April 29, 2015 |
| 03/06/2015 | Consent to the filing of amicus curiae briefs, in support of either party or of neither party, received from counsel for respondents. |
| 03/09/2015 | Brief of petitioners Richard E. Glossip, et al. filed. |
| 03/09/2015 | Joint appendix filed. |
| 03/09/2015 | Joint motion for leave to file volume II of the joint appendix under seal with redacted copies for the public record filed. |
| 03/11/2015 | Motion DISTRIBUTED for Conference of March 27, 2015. |
| 03/16/2015 | Brief amicus curiae of Former State Attorneys General filed. |
| 03/16/2015 | Brief amicus curiae of National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers filed. |
| 03/16/2015 | CIRCULATED. |
| 03/16/2015 | Brief amicus curiae of Louis Stein Center for Law and Ethics at Fordham University School of Law filed. (Distributed). |
| 03/16/2015 | Brief amicus curiae of National Consensus Project The Promise of Justice Initiative filed. (Distributed) |
| 03/16/2015 | Brief amicus curiae of The Innocence Project filed. (Distributed) |
| 03/16/2015 | Brief amicus curiae of National Catholic Reporter filed. (Distributed) |
| 03/16/2015 | Brief amici curiae of Sixteen Professors of Pharmacology in support of neither party filed. (Distributed) |
| 03/16/2015 | Brief amicus curiae of The Rutherford Institute filed. (Distributed) |
| 03/16/2015 | Motion rescheduled. |
| 03/16/2015 | Brief amicus curiae of Advocates for Human Rights filed. (Distributed). |
| 03/17/2015 | Record requested from U.S.C.A. 10th Circuit. |
| 03/24/2015 | Record received from U.S.C.A. 10th Circuit is electronic. |
| 04/01/2015 | Motion DISTRIBUTED for Conference of April 17, 2015. |
| 04/08/2015 | Brief of respondents Kevin J. Gross, et al. filed. (Distributed) |
| 04/14/2015 | Brief amicus curiae of Criminal Justice Legal Foundation filed. (Distributed) |
| 04/15/2015 | Brief amicus curiae of Florida filed. (Distributed) |
| 04/15/2015 | Brief amici curiae of Alabama, et al. filed. (Distributed) |
| 04/20/2015 | Motion for leave to file volume II of the joint appendix under seal with redacted copies for the public record GRANTED. |
| 04/22/2015 | Reply of petitioners Richard E. Glossip, et al. filed. (Distributed) |
| 04/29/2015 | Argued. For petitioners: Robin C. Konrad, Phoenix, Ariz. For respondents: Patrick R. Wyrick, Solicitor General, Oklahoma City, Okla. |
| 05/13/2015 | Letter from counsel for the respondent received. (Distributed) |
| 06/04/2015 | Letter from counsel for amici The National Consensus Project The Promise of Justice Initiative received. |
| 06/29/2015 | Adjudged to be AFFIRMED. Alito, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Roberts, C. J., and Scalia, Kennedy, and Thomas, JJ., joined. Scalia, J., filed a concurring opinion, in which Thomas, J., joined. Thomas, J., filed a concurring opinion, in which Scalia, J., joined. Breyer, J. filed a dissenting opinion, in which Ginsburg, J., joined. Sotomayor, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which Ginsburg, Breyer, and Kagan, JJ., joined. |
| 07/24/2015 | Petition for Rehearing filed. |
| 08/06/2015 | DISTRIBUTED. |
| 08/28/2015 | Rehearing DENIED. |
| 08/28/2015 | JUDGMENT ISSUED. |