The US Supreme Court today issued an emergency injunction that will prevent the state of Alabama from executing a man by nitrogen inhalation after a lower court ruled that the method appeared to be unconstitutional, AFP reported, BTA reported.
Jeffrey Lee, 49, was to be executed by nitrogen inhalation for the murder of two people during a robbery in 1998. In this method, the convict is given nitrogen gas through a mask, resulting in death by suffocation.
A federal court on Tuesday ruled against the use of nitrogen - a decision appealed by the state of Alabama to the Supreme Court.
“The request to stop or "The appeal (of the decision) is dismissed by the court," the Supreme Court ruled in an unsigned ruling published last night. No reasons were given, as is customary for decisions made on short notice.
Nitrogen inhalation as a method of execution has been condemned by UN experts as cruel and inhumane.
Five prisoners were executed this way in the US last year, out of a record 47 executions in the country. In 2025, Alabama carried out five executions, as many as South Carolina and Texas combined. Florida is the state with the most executions, with 19.
The most commonly used method was lethal injection, with 39 people executed last year.
The death penalty has been abolished in 23 of the 50 US states, and a moratorium has been imposed in three.
President Donald Trump is a staunch supporter of the death penalty and has called for its more frequent use for the "most serious crimes."