Jefferson S. Dunn, Commissioner, Alabama Department of Corrections, et al., Applicants v. Christopher Lee Price

The Supreme Court granted Alabama's request to lift lower-court stays (temporary orders blocking the execution) in Christopher Lee Price's case. The dispute involved Price's effort to stop the execution and issues tied to Alabama's authorized use of nitrogen hypoxia.

The Court granted Alabama's application to vacate the stay of execution; the prompt identifies a dissent by Justice Breyer but does not provide a vote count or full lineup.

“"The application to vacate the stay of execution ... is granted, and the stays entered by the District Court for the Southern District of Alabama and the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit on April 11, 2019, are vacated."”

The order had an immediate effect on Price because it removed the federal court blocks on his execution. More broadly, it shows how quickly the Court can act when states and inmates fight over execution methods at the last minute.

The Supreme Court has finished this docket action. Its order removed the federal stays, so this case no longer had a Supreme Court block in place.

Alabama asked the Supreme Court to cancel lower-court orders that had stopped Price's execution. The fight also involved Price's arguments about nitrogen hypoxia as an execution method.

For Price, the order immediately removed the federal court barriers to his execution. For similar cases, it signaled that late challenges to execution procedures face urgent review.

There was no further Supreme Court step in this docket action. The Court's order ended this emergency matter and left no Supreme Court stay in place.