Norris v. Jones

Background

A man sentenced to death, Jack H. Jones, challenged the lethal injection procedure used by the State of Arkansas. The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit entered a stay of execution on October 11, 2007. The State applied to the Supreme Court to vacate (lift) that stay; that application was presented to Justice Alito and referred to the full Court, which denied the application.

Reasoning

The Court’s order simply denied the State’s emergency request and left the Eighth Circuit’s stay in place. The opinion text does not elaborate the majority’s reasoning. Justice Scalia filed a dissent explaining why he would have granted the State’s application. Scalia said the Eighth Circuit relied on the idea that the Supreme Court’s decision to hear a lethal injection case called Baze v. Rees required stays in every similar case. He argued that granting review in one case does not change ordinary rules, including timing rules, and therefore Jones’s challenge—filed nine years after his conviction and sentence became final—was untimely.

Real world impact

As a result of this order, the inmate’s execution remained paused while the appeals court’s decision and the related constitutional challenge proceed. The denial keeps the status quo and allows further consideration in the lower court. The order is procedural and does not finally resolve the constitutional question about the lethal injection protocol.

Dissents or concurrances

Justice Scalia dissented from the denial and would have lifted the stay, arguing delay made Jones’s challenge improper and that the grant of review in a single case should not require automatic stays in others.