Supreme Court rulings impact Alabama's use of lethal injection and death row inmate's lawsuit.

The US Supreme Court has rejected Alabama's request to execute a death row inmate by lethal injection, upholding a lower court ruling that his preference for lethal gas is a viable alternative method. Kenneth Smith, sentenced to death for murdering Elizabeth Sennett in 1988, objected to being executed by lethal injection because of the pain it would cause. The Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled for Smith in November, saying that because the state has approved use of lethal gas, Smith could seek an alternative method of execution.