Death penalty by asphyxiation in the United States: how nitrogen execution works and what the risks are

Alabama prepares to use a new method of execution: 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 by 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 rapidly cause loss of consciousnessbut critics have compared this never-used method of execution to human experimentation.

What is nitrogen hypoxia?

Execution by nitrogen hypoxia would cause death forcing the inmate to breathe pure nitrogendepriving it of the oxygen necessary to maintain body functions.

Has it ever been used?

No state used nitrogen hypoxia to carry out a death sentence. In 2018, Alabama was the third state – along with Oklahoma and Mississippi – in authorizing the use of nitrogen gas to execute prisoners.

Why do you want to use it?

Some states are looking for new ways to execute inmates because the drugs used in lethal injections, the most common execution method in the United States, They are increasingly difficult to find.

How should it work?

Nitrogen, a gas colorless and odorlessIt makes up 78% of the air inhaled by humans and is harmless if breathed with adequate oxygen levels.

The theory behind nitrogen hypoxia is that if you change the composition of the air to 100% nitrogen, Smith will lose consciousness and die from lack of oxygen.

Much of what is reported in medical journals about deaths due to nitrogen exposure comes from industrial accidents – where nitrogen leaks or mixtures have killed workers – and suicide attempts.

What does the state intend to do?

After Smith was strapped to the execution chamber gurney, the state said in a court filing will place a “Type C full face mask” on your face NIOSH (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health) approved, a type of mask typically used in industrial settings to provide life-saving oxygen.

Then the director will read the death sentence and will ask Smith if he wants to say any last words first activate “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 lasts longer,” according to state protocol.

The state censored large portions of the protocol relating to the storage and testing of the gas system.

The Alabama attorney general’s office testified before a federal judge that nitrogen gas “causes loss of consciousness within seconds and death within minutes.”

What are the criticisms?

Smith’s lawyers argue that the state intends to make him a the “test subject” of a new method of execution.

They claim that it is the mask that the state intends to use it is not airtight AND? the entry of oxygen could prolong the run, possibly leaving it in a vegetative state rather than killing it. A doctor testified on Smith’s behalf that the low-oxygen environment may cause nausea and do Smith he drowned in his own vomit.

Experts appointed by the UN Human Rights Council earlier this month warned, in their opinion, about the method of execution would violate the prohibition on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading punishments.

The American Veterinary Medical Association wrote in its 2020 euthanasia guidelines that nitrogen hypoxia may be an acceptable euthanasia method under certain conditions for pigs, but not for other mammals because it creates an “anoxic environment that It is distressing for some species“.

Is it the same as the gas chamber?

Not exactly. Some states before They 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 the 1982 murder of a bank manager in southern Arizona. LaGrand it took 18 minutes to die in 1999.

Who is the prisoner?

Smith was one of two men convicted of being the hired killers of a preacher’s wife in 1988. Prosecutors said Smith and the other man were paid $1,000 each to kill Elizabeth Sennet at the request of her husband, who had a lot of debts and wanted to collect the insurance money.

Alabama attempted to execute Smith in 2022 by lethal injection. He was strapped to a gurney in the execution chamber being prepared, but the state suspended the lethal injection when members of the execution team They had difficulty connecting the second of two IV lines necessary for Smith’s veins. The prisoner was tied to the stretcher for almost four hours, according to his lawyers, waiting to see if the execution will go ahead.

Are there any legal remedies?

The question of whether the execution can take place will end up in the US Supreme Court.

The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments Friday on Smith’s request to order the execution. And he accepted the procedure. Both parties could appeal.

Smith argues that the state’s proposed procedures violate the prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. He also claims that Alabama violated his right to due process by scheduling the execution when appeals are pending and that the mask will interfere with his ability to pray.

In a separate case, Smith argues that the state would violate the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment if it attempted to execute him a second time after he survived an execution attempt.

What is potentially at stake?

Lethal injection is the most widely used execution method in the United States, but states with the death penalty have sometimes had difficulty obtaining the necessary drugs or have found other problems connecting IV lines.

If the Alabama execution goes forward, it’s possible that could happen other states try to start using the gas nitrogen.

If the Court stops the execution or it is unsuccessful, the use of nitrogen gas as an alternative method of execution may be stopped or delayed.