[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website] on Wednesday stayed [order, PDF] the scheduled execution of three death-row inmates in Oklahoma “pending final disposition of the case.” This came after Oklahoma issued new protocol allowing for alternative drug combinations to be used in executions. One of the drugs used is midazolam, which is scheduled to be used [text] in the executions of the aforementioned death-row inmates. This protocol was introduced to ensure that lethal injections are commissioned properly, after the botched execution of Clayton Lockett [JURIST report] in April. During his execution, Lockett awoke after receiving the injection that was supposed to render him unconscious. He did not die until about 40 minutes later.

The US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit [official website] denied a request to stay the executions [JURIST report] of four Oklahoma death row inmates earlier this month, including the three that have had their executions stayed, concluding that the inmates failed to establish a likelihood of success on the merits of their case. The petition to stay came following a decision by the US District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma [official website] in December saying that the state’s lethal injection protocol does not subject inmates on death row to cruel and unusual punishment [JURIST report] in violation of the Eighth Amendment, effectively allowing the state to continue with its scheduled executions. In September Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin [official website] defended the death penalty for the most heinous crimes, in spite of mounting criticism of the state’s death penalty protocols. In May the Oklahoma Criminal Court of Appeals [official website] approved a six-month stay of execution [JURIST report] for a current death row inmate while an investigation was conducted into issues with Lockett’s execution. The tactical strategies of all parties involved in the Oklahoma Courts’ death penalty decisions were discussed [JURIST op-ed] by JURIST Guest Columnist Andrew Spiropoulos of the Oklahoma City University School of Law in June.