The Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear an Ohio inmate’s challenge against the state’s second attempt to execute him.
In a 6-2 decision, the justices denied Romell Broom’s petition to review an Ohio Supreme Court decision granting the state a second chance to execute him by lethal injection.
Broom was convicted of kidnapping, raping and murdering a 14-year-old girl in 1984 in East Cleveland. He was sentenced to death, but prison staff botched Broom’s 2009 execution after they were unable to get a needle into his vein, and spent two hours poking him with needles.
Broom’s execution was then halted after then-Gov. Ted Strickland said he was willing to grant a reprieve, and Broom was sent back to death row.
Broom’s lawyers argued that a second attempt at execution would amount to cruel and unusual punishment, and violate his protections against double jeopardy. When the Ohio Supreme Court rejected these arguments, Broom petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court.
Chief Justice John Roberts, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Anthony Kennedy, Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Sonia Sotomayor voted to deny the petition. Justices Stephen Breyer and Elena Kagan dissented and argued in favor of granting it.
Ohio stopped executions in January 2014, and plans to resume them in 2017 with a new lethal drug combination.
