The Supreme Court on Monday sided with a death row inmate in Florida who was blocked from challenging his sentence even though a lower court acknowledged a key witness lied on stand, marking the third time the conservative high court has backed an inmate sentenced to death in recent weeks.

The plaintiffs challenging an Alabama congressional map urged the justices on Monday afternoon to leave in place a ruling by a panel of federal judges that bars Alabama from using the map on the ground that it is racially discriminatory.