Six death-row inmates must start anew in an Arkansas circuit court if they want to challenge new procedures for executing prisoners.
Arkansas' Supreme Court last year found the previous method unconstitutional, saying legislators ceded too much power to the Correction Department.
The Legislature approved a new plan last month and the inmates wanted justices to weigh in directly. The court declined in an unsigned ruling Thursday.
Justices also said Thursday that previous stays of execution for the men are no longer in place. The court said the stays issued in 2010 dissolved last July when the court tossed out the previous law.
The state said a new lawsuit would be a "waste of judicial resources" but the Supreme Court said it does not have jurisdiction to take up the case.