The Supreme Court has blocked Alabama from executing Jeffery Lee, a convicted murderer, using nitrogen gas. This decision came after state officials appealed a lower court ruling that deemed the method ‘likely unconstitutional’ in this instance.
The decision was unsigned and followed the typical protocol for emergency rulings. Three conservative justices, Clarence Thomas, Samuel A. Alito Jr., and Neil M. Gorsuch, expressed dissent. This outcome is a notable setback for Alabama, which aimed to proceed with the execution of Lee, 49. It also paves the way for broader legal challenges regarding nitrogen hypoxia, a method Alabama first employed in 2024.
Had the execution proceeded as planned, Lee would have been the eighth person executed by this method in Alabama and the ninth in the United States.
It is uncommon for the Supreme Court to intervene in executions at the last moment. Generally, emergency requests to halt executions are filed directly by prisoners. In Lee’s case, a federal appeals court had already blocked the execution, and Alabama sought the Supreme Court’s intervention to overturn this decision.
This represents a developing story, with updates expected as it progresses.
Report by Rick Rojas and Abbie VanSickle for The New York Times.