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Justices to decide if lethal injection is 'cruel and unusual' - CNN.com

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Supreme Court agreed Tuesday to delve into a divisive controversy over capital punishment -- whether lethal injection causes excruciating pain and violates the Constitution's ban on "cruel and unusual punishment."

The justices have never directly addressed the fundamental question over the use of the chemical "cocktail" of drugs used to execute convicted killers.

All 37 states that perform lethal injections use the three-drug mixture at issue in the case.

Kentucky inmates Ralph Baze and Clyde Bowling Jr. brought suit in federal court three years ago, questioning the state's chemical mixture and the procedures used to administer it.

They claim the first drug -- sodium thiopental -- which renders the prisoner unconscious, wears off too quickly, and some prisoners are actually awake and able to feel pain as the execution continues.

The second drug -- pancuronium bromide -- paralyzes all muscle movement and prevents the condemned person from speaking out and expressing awareness of the pain, according to the men's lawyers.

The third drug -- potassium chloride -- then induces cardiac arrest and is "excruciatingly painful in a conscious person."