Alabama set to execute Jeffery Lee by lethal injection after nitrogen execution is blocked

Key Points:

• The Supreme Court blocked Alabama from executing Jeffery Lee by nitrogen gas, but the state plans to proceed with lethal injection despite Lee not choosing this method and the state’s prior agreement not to use it.
• Lee, convicted for a 1998 double murder during a pawnshop robbery, initially chose nitrogen hypoxia for execution, arguing lethal injection was unconstitutional, but now challenges the state's switch to lethal injection.
• Witnesses and advocates have described nitrogen gas executions as prolonged and painful, with courts ruling that nitrogen hypoxia likely violates the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
• Alabama’s legal shift back to lethal injection has sparked new litigation from Lee’s attorneys, who argue the state is reneging on its agreement and violating constitutional protections.
• Lee has been on death row for nearly 30 years, expressed remorse, and sought clemency, which Governor Kay Ivey has refused, with his execution currently scheduled for Thursday evening.