A unanimous US Supreme Court ruled this afternoon that a death row inmate can bring a last-minute challenge under a federal civil rights law to the method of execution that uses a lethal three-chemical cocktail.
The justices handed a victory to Florida death row inmate Clarence Hill, who wanted to proceed with his challenge to the chemicals on the grounds they could cause unnecessary pain and would violate his civil rights.
The ruling for Hill allows him to proceed with his claims before lower federal courts. It also could encourage other death row inmates in the United States to bring similar challenges.
The ruling written by Justice Anthony Kennedy only decided that Hill could bring the challenge and did not address the merits of his underlying claim against lethal injection.