Harbison v. Little

Edward Jerome Harbison (plaintiff), whose murder conviction and death sentence had been upheld through direct appeal, post-conviction review, and habeas corpus, challenged Tennessee's new three-drug lethal-injection protocol (sodium thiopental, then pancuronium bromide, then potassium chloride, administered without checking for unconsciousness). Pancuronium bromide was itself barred for animal euthanasia under Tennessee law due to its risks. Harbison sued in federal district court, alleging the protocol as implemented violated the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments.