L'incerto futuro dei metodi di esecuzione della pena di morte negli Stati Uniti. Scenari emergenti e prospettive dopo la sentenza "Glossip v. Gross"

This Article discusses the ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court in the 2015 case Glossip v. Gross. The case dealt with the compatibility of the use of Midazolam, a mild anesthetic used as the initial drug in Oklahoma’s execution protocol, with the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution (prohibition against cruel and unusual punishments). In so doing, the essay recounts the history of execution methods in America, first developed and then abandoned in search of the most humane method of imposing death as the ultimate criminal penalty. The advent of lethal injection seemed to provide the final answer. However, recent difficulties faced by non-abolitionist States in obtaining drugs used in executions by lethal injections have put everything into question.