The U.S. Supreme Court ruled against nitrogen gas as an execution method. File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
June 12 (UPI) -- The Supreme Court has denied Alabama's attempt to execute a prisoner with nitrogen gas after two lower courts denied the method, calling it cruel and unusual.
The unsigned order from the court's emergency docket didn't explain its decision, but Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch dissented.
The order came hours before Jeffrey Lee, 49, would have been executed, at 6 p.m. CDT.
Lee was convicted of double murder in a pawnshop robbery in 1998. He can still be executed via other methods, though it's unclear when that would happen.
