No. 20-5243October Term 2020Decided Oct 5, 2020
Henness v. DeWine
This pending case asks whether Ohio may use hanging as a method of execution under the Eighth Amendment.
Case status
- Current stage
- Decided
- Latest event
- Decision released Oct 5, 2020
- What it's about
This pending case asks whether Ohio may use hanging as a method of execution under the Eighth Amendment. The dispute focuses on whether the pain associated with hanging must be judged on its own or compared with available alternative execution methods under the Supreme Court’s decision in Bucklew v. Precythe.
Question presented
Whether the Eighth Amendment categorically permits the degree of pain caused by hanging — includ- ing sensations of drowning and suffocation — or whether, as this Court held in Bucklew v. Precythe, 139 S. Ct. 1112, 1126 (2019), “[d]istinguishing between constitutionally permissible and impermissible de- grees of pain . . . is a necessarily comparative exercise” that requires examining viable alternative methods of execution.
- Case path
United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit / Decision released Oct 5, 2020
- Area
Decided Supreme Court case
Timing
Decided October 5, 2020
The Court released its decision on October 5, 2020 without hearing oral argument.
Documents
Related cases
Grounding
- Grounding
- Primary materials plus reporting.
- Note
- Best-effort analysis: this explainer relies on a mix of primary materials and trusted secondary sources. Official filings and opinions remain authoritative.
- Checked
- Jul 2, 2026
- Method
- Methodology