The U-S Supreme Court has agreed to determine the constitutionality of execution by lethal injection.
The court will hear a challenge from two death row inmates in Kentucky, but the use of lethal injection is also being challenged by 20 death row inmates in Ohio.
The three dozen states that use lethal injection use the same three-drug cocktail composed of an anesthetic followed by something to paralyze the muscles and then a substance to stop the heart. Death penalty critics have said if a prisoner is given an insufficient amount of anesthetic, he could suffer considerable pain and be unable to cry out.