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A federal judge has ruled that execution by nitrogen gas does not violate the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment, rejecting an Alabama inmate’s claim that it causes excessive suffering.

A divided Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed Alabama's bid to be allowed to execute a convicted murder who was found by lower courts to be intellectually disabled.

Alabama has set a June execution by nitrogen gas for a man convicted of killing two people during a 1998 robbery of a pawn shop. Governor Kay Ivey set a June 11 execution date for Jeffery James Lee, 49. Lee was convicted of killing Jimmy Ellis and Elaine Thompson while robbing a pawn shop that belonged to Ellis.

Charles “Sonny” Burton didn’t kill anyone. The state of Alabama could execute him anyway. Burton, 75, is facing execution for his role as an accomplice in a 1991 robbery at an auto parts store where customer Doug Battle was killed. No one disputes that another man, Derrick DeBruce, shot and killed Battle.

The Supreme Court will hear arguments Wednesday in a case that could make it harder for convicted murderers to show their lives should be spared because they are intellectually disabled. The justices are taking up an appeal from Alabama, which wants to put to death a man who lower federal courts found is intellectually disabled and shielded from execution.

An Alabama man convicted of helping to burn a man alive in 1993 over a $200 drug debt was executed by nitrogen gas on Thursday. Anthony Boyd, 54, was pronounced dead at 6:33 p.m. at William C. Holman Correctional Facility, authorities said.

Thirty-five men have died by court-ordered executions in the U.S. so far this year, including one early Friday, with seven others scheduled to be put to death later this month. The increase in executions is largely being driven by four states — Alabama, Florida, Texas, and South Carolina — that have carried out 76% of this year's court-ordered killings.

An Alabama man convicted of killing a woman during a 1997 gas station robbery was put to death Thursday after apologizing to his victim's family and pleas from the woman's son to spare his life.

Alabama is preparing to execute a man convicted of killing a woman during a 1997 gas station robbery in what will be the nation's latest execution carried out with nitrogen gas. It is one of two executions scheduled Thursday in the United States. Texas plans to carry out a lethal injection on the same evening.

Alabama has scheduled an October execution by nitrogen gas for an inmate who has an ongoing lawsuit challenging the new method as unconstitutionally cruel. Alabama Governor Kay Ivey on Monday set an Oct. 23 execution date for Anthony Boyd, 53. Boyd is one of four men convicted in the 1993 killing of Gregory Huguley in Talladega. Prosecutors said Huguley was burned to death after he failed to pay for $200 worth of cocaine.