By Alabama Public Radio
Washington DC – The U-S Supreme Court refused Monday to directly consider whether the drug combination used in executions across the country amounts to unconstitutional cruel punishment. The justices had already agreed to hear arguments in April in a case brought by Florida death row inmate Clarence Hill, a Mobile native, about the procedure for lethal injection challenges to be filed in federal court. That appeal is still pending. The justices did not comment when they declined to broaden their review and take up Hill's appeal. The 48-year-old Hill came within minutes of being executed last month when the court issued a stay.