The U.S. Supreme Court has barred Alabama from carrying out an execution using nitrogen gas — a ruling that directly delays the scheduled death of Jeffrey Lee, though Lee still faces the death penalty.
The court issued the decision on Thursday, June 12. Alabama had intended to use nitrogen gas as the execution method. That’s now off the table, at least for now.
Lee’s execution won’t proceed as planned. What happens next — whether Alabama pursues a different method, returns to court, or seeks a new execution date — wasn’t immediately clear from the ruling.
Nitrogen gas executions have drawn scrutiny from death-penalty opponents and some medical experts who argue the method hasn’t been proven reliably humane. Alabama carried out what it described as the first nitrogen hypoxia execution in the country last year, a claim that itself drew legal challenges and international criticism. The Supreme Court’s move suggests the justices weren’t satisfied that Alabama’s use of the method met constitutional standards — though the court’s full reasoning wasn’t available in early reports.
Lee remains on death row. The court’s order delays his execution but doesn’t vacate his sentence or conviction.
No new execution date for Lee had been announced as of Thursday morning, according to NPR’s reporting.
