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WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday rejected a request by President Donald Trump’s administration to proceed with plans to carry out the first executions of federal death row inmates since 2003.

The justices left in place a hold imposed by a federal judge on four executions that had been scheduled by U.S. Attorney General William Barr for this month and next month as Trump’s administration embraces the death penalty at a time when increasing numbers of states have given up the practice.

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The brief order said that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit that is now considering the case should rule “with appropriate dispatch.”

Conservative Justice Samuel Alito wrote a separate statement, joined by fellow conservatives Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, saying the appeals court should be able to rule within 60 days.

“The government has shown that it is very likely to prevail when this question is ultimately decided,” Alito wrote.