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.
When Nazis stop going across the country having hate parades in my state I’ll agree with you.
You’re right, I’m sure the majority of your state is politically extremist and would welcome blood sport.
We are historically a sundown state. The leading party is trying to ban books and change education curriculums. Our police showed up in riot gear for peaceful protests like when Roe v. Wade was turned, and those same police are literal klan members. We know this because during that Nazi rally I mentioned, the police in uniform were nowhere to be found. They were all photographed taking part in the rally. Yet these officers are happy to show up armed in riot gear at peaceful protests…
So yeah, I do feel that my state is politically extremist, and a number of people would absolutely welcome something like that. I wish it weren’t how I felt and I wish it weren’t the truth, but that’s just the byproduct of 2016 and years and years of Fox News and other propaganda “politicizing” peoples identity.
Most of the state? As individuals definitely not, there are many against our state government who actively campaign. We get targeted, followed home, and assaulted for being queer, for being activists who dare try and speak out against hatred at peaceful protests. And yet despite all of us, somehow all those asshats are still getting elected with no policies made to protect these citizens.
I’m not trying to be facetious here. I believe in goodwill first and foremost and doing the right thing over doing nothing, and I always have hope for the best in people. But after 2016, fuck, after January 6th we have to be better than optimistic. We have to hold people accountable, and that means recognizing the actual state of the world we are in, which means recognizing that yes, there are people right now who would argue for a bloodsport. To them it would be bonus points if it was LGBT+ and POC participants.
The only way to come close to changing is by acknowledging our faults as a whole and do as much as we can to remedy them. We have to be compassionate while being completely intolerant of their hateful bullshit and insane rhetoric.