Gray v. Lucas, Warden, Et Al.

Background

A death-row prisoner, Jimmy Lee Gray, was convicted and sentenced to death for the abduction, sexual molestation, and suffocation of a three-year-old girl. After two trials and many appeals and habeas petitions over seven years, Mississippi set an execution date for September 2, 1983. Gray asked the Justices to review the case and to pause the execution while his challenge to the state’s use of cyanide gas was considered.

Reasoning

The core question was whether the Court would take the case and delay the execution to consider Gray’s claim that execution by cyanide gas is cruel and unusual. The Court declined to review the case and denied the stay. The Chief Justice explained that, even accepting the affidavits as true, they did not legally establish an Eighth Amendment violation and emphasized the need for finality after years of review. Justice Stevens said he would grant the stay, but a majority refused.

Real world impact

Because the Court denied review and refused the stay, the state was permitted to proceed with the scheduled execution, leaving lower-court rulings in place. The decision means Gray’s specific challenge to the gas chamber was not considered by this Court on the merits. Dissenting views in the opinion point to continued disagreement about whether the gas method causes prolonged, severe pain.

Dissents or concurrances

Justice Marshall (joined by Justice Brennan) dissented, describing affidavits that detailed prolonged and painful death by cyanide gas and arguing the method likely violates the Eighth Amendment; he would have granted a stay and reviewed the issue. Justice Stevens also would have granted the stay.