Hill v. McDonough
Case Date: 07/10/2025
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Supreme Court of the United States
Argued April 26, 2006
Decided June 12, 2006
Full case name:
Clarence E. Hill v. James R. McDonough, Interim Secretary, Florida Department of Corrections, et al.
Citations:
547 U.S. 573; 2006 U.S. LEXIS 4674
Prior history:
Petition dismissed, M.D. Fla., Jan. 21, 2006; affirmed, 437 F.3d 1084, 11th Cir.; cert. granted, 126 S. Ct. 1189 (2006)
Subsequent history:
Holding
Because a death row prisoner's Eighth Amendment challenge to the method of execution was not a habeas corpus petition, but instead stated a claim under 42 U.S.C. §1983, his claim could not be barred by his previously filed petition for habeas relief. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals reversed and remanded.
Court membership
Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr.
Associate Justices John Paul Stevens, Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy, David Souter, Clarence Thomas, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Samuel Alito
Case opinions
Majority by: Kennedy
Joined by: Unanimous Court
Laws applied
U.S. Const. amend. VIII; U.S. Const. amend. XIV; 28 U.S.C. § 2244; 42 U.S.C. § 1983
Hill v. McDonough 547 U.S. 573 (2006), was a case decided by the United States Supreme Court challenging the use of lethal injection as a form of execution in the state of Florida. The Court ruled unanimously that a challenge to the method of execution as violating the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution properly raised a claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, which provides a cause of action for civil rights violations, rather than under the habeas corpus provisions. Accordingly, that the prisoner had previously sought habeas relief could not bar the present challenge.
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