The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected the appeal of Alabama Death Row inmate Tommy Arthur, who is scheduled to be executed next month.

Justices denied a request to re-hear Arthur's request for certiorari - or review - of his appeal. Justice Sonia Sotomayor would have granted Arthur's petition.

Arthur is set to be executed May 25 at Holman Correctional Facility for the 1982 murder-for-hire slaying of Troy Wicker, of Muscle Shoals. Arthur has had seven previous executions over the past 15 years delayed by courts - the last one on Nov. 3.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 21 had denied Arthur's request for a review of his appeal claiming the state's lethal injection method of execution is unconstitutional. But his attorneys in requesting a rehearing cited split opinions regarding lethal injection since February among different circuit courts of appeal around the nation.

"The presence of two split decisions with opposed holdings from two different courts of appeals on an issue of national importance warrants review by this court," Authur's attorney, Suhana Han argues. "This review is urgent in Mr. Arthur's case: Mr. Arthur has proffered substantial evidence that his execution ... will be torturous, but because he is in Alabama instead of Ohio that evidence will never be considered absent this court's intervention."

U.S. District Court Judge Keith Watkins also recently issued an opinion denying Arthur's attorneys request to have access to cell or landline phones in the witness room at the prison during the execution.

Arthur also has argued in another court filing that the Alabama Legislature, not the Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC), should be the one to decide what lethal injection drugs should be used for executions, according to Arthur's motion.

Alabama Death Row inmate Robert Melson is set to be executed June 8.