The U.S. Supreme Court has unanimously ruled that death row inmates seeking to challenge lethal injection as a method of execution after they have exhausted their regular appeals may pursue the issue as a civil rights claim. Though the decision in Hill v. McDonough did not answer the broader question regarding whether the chemicals used in lethal injections around the nation are unconstitutional because they may cause excruciating pain, it does permit inmates to challenge lethal injection using an Eighth Amendment claim.

The decision involved Florida death row inmate Clarence Hill, who had exhausted his available appeals before using a civil rights claim to challenge the constitutionality of Florida’s lethal injection protocol. Hill was strapped to a gurney with lines running into his arms to deliver the lethal cocktail when the Supreme Court intervened and blocked his January 2006 execution. Writing for the Court, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy said that while Hill and other death row inmates can now file special appeals, they will not be always entitled to delays in their executions.

Lethal injection is the primary method of execution used in every state that has the death penalty except Nebraska, which uses the electric chair. The U.S. Supreme Court has never ruled on the constitutionality of a specific method of execution. (Associated Press, June 12, 2006) See U.S. Supreme Court and Methods of Execution.