As much as this writer wants to bring you another fun-filled 'Alabama Man' story, this one is more somber than the other two, which you can read about here and here if you just need a good laugh today.
This is a pretty important story, a federal court refused to block the execution of inmate Kenneth Eugene Smith via nitrogen gas, which would induce hypoxia. This would be the nation's first execution by a new method since 1982.
BREAKING: Federal court says Alabama can carry out first nitrogen gas execution; Supreme Court appeal expected https://t.co/yv3cySnH6E
— The Associated Press (@AP) January 25, 2024
Smith, a 58-year-old man is one of two men convicted in the murder-for-hire of a preacher’s wife, Elizabeth Sennett, in 1988. Her husband, minister Charles Sennett, hired someone who then hired two others, including Smith, to kill his wife and make it look like a burglary for $1,000 each, according to court records. Charles ended up committing suicide a week after his wife's murder when the focus of the investigation shifted onto him.
There was a previous attempt to carry out Smith's execution via lethal injection in September of 2022, but a sufficient vein could not be found. Smith spent four hours strapped to the gurney, which his attorney argued caused great distress, including PTSD.
John Forrest Parker, the other man convicted in the murder, was executed in 2010.
"The state predicted in court filings that the gas will cause an inmate to lose consciousness within seconds and cause death within minutes. Critics of the untested method say the state can’t predict what will happen and what Smith will feel after the warden switches on the gas."
— Grey Fox (@yesitismine) January 25, 2024
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Experts who are speaking out against this method argue that 'there is no proof executions by nitrogen hypoxia would adhere to inmates’ constitutional protection against cruel and unusual punishment because it has never been used and could never be ethically tested.'
Per the AP story, 'The American Veterinary Medical Association wrote in 2020 euthanasia guidelines that nitrogen hypoxia is not an acceptable euthanasia method for most mammals because the experience of oxygen deprivation 'is distressing.' '
Responses from X users run the gamut between support and horror.
Sounds good to me. Let’s get it rollin’
— Gonzy (@Gonzeeeeeee) January 25, 2024
Cheap, available and very effective. They will pass out from lack of oxygen and die. Most of the air we breathe is Nitrogen (about 78%) but without the usual component of Oxygen (about 21%) the 100% Nitrogen gas is lethal.
— Rob🌴 (@GarlicRush) January 25, 2024
Lights out! pic.twitter.com/maaaNAVv41
— Roswell Voter (@RoswellVoter) January 25, 2024
May his pain be greater than his victims
— John Zima (@Kalogrym) January 25, 2024
He killed a preacher's wife in a murder for hire plot, who cares if he's a test subject or suffers. He didn't care when she died.
— Daut Berisha (@daut8131977) January 25, 2024
You get the idea.
We must join all the other civilized nations that have outlawed this shameful vestige of our less moral past. https://t.co/QKri5aynDW
— Jack Dobbyn (@JackDobbyn) January 25, 2024
This is HORRIBLE. Abolish the death penalty. https://t.co/qWMTg6s5od
— Abby (@Misss_Abigail) January 25, 2024
Abhorrent https://t.co/H4RY1cG8MR
— Matthew Savage (@MrMattSavage) January 25, 2024
Two other states, Mississippi and Oklahoma, have authorized nitrogen hypoxia as a method of execution, but only Alabama has actually articulated a protocol for the procedure. However, none of the three states have used this method as of yet. If the Supreme Court sides with the lower court, Alabama will be the first state to execute an inmate this way.
We will update this story as more information comes in! In the meantime, where do you stand on this issue?
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