The Supreme Court late Thursday denied Alabama’s request to execute a man using nitrogen gas after two lower court rulings blocked the method and found it violates the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
The high court’s decision came after the state filed for an emergency order just hours ahead of the execution of Jeffery Lee, 49, scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday local time.
Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch noted their dissent and would have granted the state’s request to overturn the lower courts.
Lee, who was convicted of murdering two people in a 1998 pawnshop robbery, is effectively spared from being put to death via nitrogen, but the state can still attempt other methods and it’s unclear how quickly it would seek viable alternatives.
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