MONTGOMERY, Alabama — Alabama is preparing to use a new execution method: nitrogen gas.
Kenneth Eugene Smith, who survived the state’s previous attempt to execute him by lethal injection in 2022, is scheduled to be executed Thursday for nitrogen hypoxia. If carried out, it would be the first new method of execution since lethal injection was introduced in 1982.
The state maintains that nitrogen gas will cause unconsciousness quickly, but critics have compared the never-used execution method to human experimentation.
What is nitrogen hypoxia?
Execution by nitrogen hypoxia would cause death by forcing the inmate to breathe pure nitrogen, depriving him of the oxygen necessary to maintain bodily functions.
Has it ever been used?
Alabama is one of three states that has approved the use of nitrogen gas, but the first to prepare to do so. Getty Images/iStockphoto
No state has used nitrogen hypoxia to carry out a death sentence. In 2018, Alabama became the third state, along with Oklahoma and Mississippi, to authorize the use of nitrogen gas to execute prisoners.
Some states are looking for new ways to execute inmates because drugs used in lethal injections, the most common execution method in the United States, are becoming harder to find.
How is it supposed to work?
Breathing 100% nitrogen is believed to cause unconsciousness and ultimately death from lack of oxygen. AP
Nitrogen, a colorless, odorless gas, makes up 78% of the air inhaled by humans and is harmless when breathed with adequate levels of oxygen.
The theory behind nitrogen hypoxia is that changing the composition of the air to 100% nitrogen will cause Smith to lose consciousness and then die from lack of oxygen.
Much of what is recorded in medical journals about death from nitrogen exposure comes from industrial accidents (in which leaks or mix-ups of nitrogen have killed workers) and suicide attempts.
What is the state planning to do?
The state of Alabama is confident that nitrogen gas will cause death within minutes. AP
After Smith is strapped to the gurney in the death chamber, the state said in a court filing that it will fit a “NIOSH-approved Type C full-face supplied air respirator,” a type of mask worn typically in industrial environments to bring life. -preserve oxygen – on Smith’s face.
The warden will then read the death warrant and ask Smith if he has any last words before activating “the nitrogen hypoxia system” from another room. Nitrogen gas will be administered for at least 15 minutes or “five minutes after a flat indication on the electrocardiogram, whichever is longer,” according to state protocol.
The state largely redacted sections of the protocol related to gas system storage and testing.
The Alabama attorney general’s office told a federal judge that nitrogen gas “will cause unconsciousness in seconds and death in minutes.”
What are the criticisms?
Smith’s lawyers say the state is seeking to make him the “test subject” for a new method of execution.
They have argued that the mask the state plans to use is not airtight and that the oxygen that leaks out could subject him to prolonged execution, possibly leaving him in a vegetative state rather than killing him. A doctor testified on Smith’s behalf that the low-oxygen environment could cause nausea, causing Smith to choke to death on his own vomit.
Experts appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council earlier this month warned that in their opinion the method of execution would violate the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment.
The American Veterinary Medical Association wrote in 2020 euthanasia guidelines that nitrogen hypoxia may be an acceptable method of euthanasia under certain conditions for pigs, but not for other mammals because it creates an “anoxic environment that is distressing to some species.”
Is this the same as the gas chamber?
Not quite. Some states previously used hydrogen cyanide gas, a lethal gas, for executions. The last prisoner executed in an American gas chamber was Walter LaGrand, the second of two German brothers sentenced to death for killing a bank manager in 1982 in southern Arizona. It took LaGrand 18 minutes to die in 1999.
Who is the inmate?
A mishap that complicated IV lines prevented Smith from being executed by lethal injection in 2022. AP
Smith was one of two men convicted of the murder-for-hire of a preacher’s wife in 1988. Prosecutors said Smith and the other man were paid $1,000 each to kill Elizabeth Sennett on behalf of her husband, who He was deeply in debt and wanted to collect the insurance money.
Alabama attempted to execute Smith in 2022 by lethal injection. He was strapped to the gurney in the execution chamber that was being prepared for the lethal injection, but the state called off the lethal injection when members of the execution team had difficulty connecting the second of two required intravenous lines to Smith’s veins. . Smith was strapped to the gurney for nearly four hours, according to his lawyers, while he waited to see if the execution would continue.
Are there legal challenges?
Ultimately, the Supreme Court will decide whether or not to proceed with the execution with nitrogen gas. AP
The question of whether the execution can continue will end up before the US Supreme Court.
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday heard arguments on Smith’s request to block the execution. Once the court rules, either party may appeal.
Smith has argued that the state’s proposed procedures violate the ban on cruel and unusual punishment. He has also argued that Alabama violated his due process rights by scheduling the execution when he has appeals pending and that the mask will interfere with his ability to pray.
In a separate case, Smith argues that it would violate the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment for the state to make a second attempt to execute him after he has already survived an execution attempt. Smith’s lawyers on Friday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to stay the execution to consider that issue.
What is potentially at stake?
Lethal injection is the most commonly used method of execution in the United States, but death penalty states have sometimes had difficulty obtaining necessary medications or encountered other problems connecting intravenous lines.
If the Alabama enforcement continues, other states could try to start using nitrogen gas.
If the court blocks or fails the execution, it could stop or slow the search for nitrogen gas as an alternative execution method.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn