It is convicted murderer Kenneth Smith who will be executed using the new and controversial method on Thursday, for the first time in American history.
In 2022, he was tried to be executed by lethal injection. But the attempt failed and the execution was halted. This led to the federal state starting a review of the death penalty procedures.
Smith has appealed the decision that he will now be executed by nitrogen gas, which means that death will occur as a result of suffocation. The condemned person is forced to breathe pure nitrogen. Without oxygen, the prisoner loses consciousness and dies.
Smith has argued that he suffered severe trauma when he survived the first execution, and that a second execution violates the constitution’s provision that one must be protected against cruel and unusual methods of punishment.
Alabama has for several years worked to use nitrogen gas as a method of execution. In 2018, it was approved in the state. Oklahoma and Mississippi have also approved the method, but without putting it into use.
Critics say that using such an unproven method is experimenting on humans.
2024-01-24 20:38:47
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