A federal judge who is weighing whether to allow the nation’s first execution by nitrogen hypoxia to go forward next month, urged Alabama on Thursday to change procedures so the inmate can pray and say his final words before the gas mask is placed on his face.
U.S. District Judge R. Austin Huffaker made the suggestion in a court order setting a Dec. 29 deadline to submit information before he rules on the inmate’s request to block the execution. The judge made similar comments the day prior at the conclusion of a court hearing.
Alabama is scheduled to execute Kenneth Eugene Smith on Jan. 25 in what would be the nation’s first execution using nitrogen gas. Nitrogen hypoxia is authorized as an execution method in Alabama, Mississippi and Oklahoma but has never been used to put an inmate to death.
The proposed execution method would use a gas mask, placed over Smith’s nose and mouth, to replace breathable air with nitrogen, causing Smith to die from lack of oxygen.
Why use a mask: because it’s cheaper, and helps secure the people nearby (in case of a room leaking, that’s a lot of displaced air, while a mask or similar leaking is significantly less of risk in case of uncontrolled release). But I bet mostly because it’s cheaper - and remember, it’s never been done before (by them, for this purpose).
But like 15 states have gas chambers. They aren’t used because all they ever tried was cyanide or carbon monoxide, both of which caused significant suffering. But the effects of nitrogen have been known since the birth of scuba. Cheaper has never mattered. Lethal injection is incredibly expensive, as is running the electric chair. If cost actually mattered hanging or firing squads would be the go to methods. I’ve personally never been able to grasp why it matters. Why shouldn’t these people, who have caused untold amounts of suffering be made to suffer on their way out of existence? These are serial murderers and the like. Personally I think we should add serial rapists to the list of executable offenders. I simply do not understand why the worst of men should receive any kindness at all. They gave none to their victims. And so fucking what if they are remorseful. If you commit atrocities you should be handled in kind and definitely do not deserve to be kept alive like some pet of the state fed on the taxpayers’ dime.
And what if they didn’t do it? What if you brutally torture someone to death and later a key witness reveals that they lied? Or evidence proving their innocence isn’t discovered until decades later. It happens all the time.
It’s not a “what if.”
One in 8 sentenced to death is later exonerated.
Most executions take years or even decades to even happen and scenarios like you suggested are extremely rare.
It’s more like 16% sentenced to death are innocent. The point of the seemingly endless appeals is that the process is so fucked already more than 15% of the initial sentences are changed during appeal because someone somewhere fucked up… And you want to add more people to this process?
Stop swallowing the GOP lies. That sort of conservative bullshit belongs on Fox. Leave it there.
https://innocenceproject.org/
https://eji.org/issues/wrongful-convictions/
There is an entire industry devoted to freeing these people. And you want to brutally torture and execute them?
There’s something wrong inside you.
I’m just pragmatic and the rest of you seem to be controlled by knee jerk emotional responses. You waste a lot of energy having to have feelings about everything.
Who else do you think deserves to be tortured to death?