Filed Date: May 30, 2006
Closed Date: 2006
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On May 30, 2006, John Albert Boltz, a death sentenced inmate of the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester, Oklahoma, filed a lawsuit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against the Oklahoma Department of Corrections in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma. Boltz's was scheduled to be executed on June 1, 2006 by lethal injection, and he complained to the Court that the specific lethal injection method used by the defendants would allow him to experience an unconstitutionally high level of pain during the process. Specifically, he objected to the use of a short-acting anesthetic, which he claimed would wear off before the process was complete, leaving him in excrutiating pain from the injection of potassium chloride. He also complained that the use of a paralytic agent during the process would render him unable to alert the executioners that the anesthetic had worn off, trapping him in a paralyzed body, racked with pain, but unable to cry out. He asked the Court to enjoin the defendants from using this protocol and to declare that it was unconstitutional.
On June 1, 2006, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma (Judge Stephen P. Friot) issued a temporary restraining order, forbidding the defendants from executing Boltz for four more weeks, which give the Court time to have a hearing in the case. The defendants appealed this order, and on the same day, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit (Judges Deanell Reece Tacha, Terrence L. O'Brien, and Timothy M. Tymkovich) vacated the District Court's temporary restraining order, finding that Boltz had not shown any likelihood of success on the merits of his claim.
On June 1, 2006, John Albert Boltz was executed by lethal injection.
Summary Authors
Kristen Sagar (9/11/2007)
For PACER's information on parties and their attorneys, see: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/4364592/parties/boltz-v-jones/
Friot, Stephen P. (Oklahoma)
Hankins , James L. (Oklahoma)
Draper, Preston Saul (Oklahoma)
Mann, Richard Neal (Oklahoma)
McCalmont, Lisa S. (Oklahoma)
Friot, Stephen P. (Oklahoma)
O'Brien, Terrence L. (Wyoming)
Tacha, Deanell Reece (Kansas)
Tymkovich, Timothy M. (Colorado)
See docket on RECAP: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/4364592/boltz-v-jones/
Last updated Feb. 9, 2024, 3:08 a.m.
State / Territory: Oklahoma
Case Type(s):
Special Collection(s):
Key Dates
Filing Date: May 30, 2006
Closing Date: 2006
Case Ongoing: No
Plaintiffs
Plaintiff Description:
a death sentenced inmate of the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester, Oklahoma
Public Interest Lawyer: No
Filed Pro Se: No
Class Action Sought: No
Class Action Outcome: Not sought
Defendants
Oklahoma Department of Corrections (McAlester), State
Case Details
Causes of Action:
Constitutional Clause(s):
Available Documents:
Injunctive (or Injunctive-like) Relief
Outcome
Prevailing Party: Defendant
Nature of Relief:
Injunction / Injunctive-like Settlement
Source of Relief:
Order Duration: 2006 - 2006
Issues
Death Penalty: