Justice Elena Kagan wrote in the majority opinion that in challenging Georgia's execution method he was “not confined to proposing a method authorized by the executing State's law.” There is no reason to believe that amending state law to allow executions by firing squad would be a “substantial impediment” to carrying out the death sentence, she wrote.
Michael Wade Nance argued that because of his medical history an injection of the sedative pentobarbital, the only execution method authorized in the state, could cause him severe pain in violation of his constitutional rights.
On the issue of whether his longtime use of a pain medication could interfere with the execution drug, Boulee cited the testimony of a doctor called by Nance's lawyers who said “no one actually knows" what the effect would be.
The U.S. Supreme Court has said that to challenge an execution method under the Eighth Amendment, a person must show that the method creates “a substantial risk of serious harm” and that there are “known and available alternatives” that are “feasible, readily implemented" and that will significantly reduce the risk of severe pain.
Circuit Court of Appeals concluded that since lethal injection is the only method of execution authorized by Georgia law, Nance was effectively challenging the validity of his death sentence.
