Richard Jordan, et al. v. Virginia Department of Corrections

Death-sentenced Petitioners Richard Jordan and Ricky Chase filed a Section 1983 lawsuit against officers of the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) challenging the use of midazolam in a threedrug protocol and the three-drug protocol itself. To meet the burden of Glossip v. Gross, 135 S. Ct. 2726, 2738 (2015), Petitioners proposed the alternative method of a single lethal dose of pentobarbital, which would eliminate the risks of the second and third drugs in MDOC’s protocol. MDOC disputes that it can obtain pentobarbital for use in executions. To disprove MDOC’s assertions, Petitioners sought discovery from Respondent Virginia Department of Corrections (VDOC) for documents and testimony on transactions for pentobarbital between VDOC and the Texas corrections department, and data on five prior Virginia executions. Respondent produced some documents and otherwise successfully moved the district court to quash. The Fourth Circuit affirmed. This ruling presents the following questions for review by this Court: 1. Whether the burden of proof demanded by Glossip in method-of-execution challenges requires commensurately broad discovery rights to provide plaintiffs an adequate opportunity to meet Glossip’s requirements.