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In Monday’s footnote, Justice Alito wrote that the Muslim inmate, Domineque Ray, had also waited too long to object.

“In both Ray and this case,” he wrote, “the court was presented at the last minute with claims that raised complicated issues that cannot be adequately decided with hasty briefing and an inadequate record.”

In a third opinion on Monday, Justice Thomas, joined by Justices Alito and Gorsuch, wrote to “set the record straight” about why they had voted last month to allow the execution of an Alabama inmate, Christopher Lee Price, a move that had prompted an anguished middle-of-the-night dissent from Justice Breyer.

The majority, in a brief, unsigned opinion last month, said Mr. Price had waited too long to raise his claim that Alabama’s method of execution, a lethal injection of three chemicals, could subject him to excruciating pain. Mr. Price asked to be executed using nitrogen gas, a method allowed by Alabama law.

Justice Breyer’s request that the justices discuss the matter the next morning was refused.

“To proceed in this way calls into question the basic principles of fairness that should underlie our criminal justice system,” Justice Breyer wrote. “To proceed in this matter in the middle of the night without giving all members of the court the opportunity for discussion tomorrow morning is, I believe, unfortunate.”

The dispute among the justices lasted long enough that Alabama officials postponed the execution, and Mr. Price remains on death row.

On Monday, Justice Thomas wrote that Justice Breyer’s legal analysis last month did not “withstand even minimal legal scrutiny.” Mr. Price’s strategy was to delay the inevitable, Justice Thomas wrote.