nitrogen hypoxia
Gov. Kay Ivey sets January date for nitrogen execution of Kenneth Eugene Smith
Gov. Kay Ivey Wednesday set a January execution date for Kenneth Eugene Smith, convicted of the 1988 murder-for-hire of Elizabeth Sennett. Ivey set an execution window starting at midnight on Jan. 25, 2024 and running until 6 am on January 26, 2024. It could be the first execution carried out through nitrogen suffocation, a method […]
Doctors, ethicists skeptical that nitrogen executions will be humane
Alabama’s announcement that it will try to execute Kenneth Eugene Smith by nitrogen gas suffocation will set off a round of issues about the ethics and practicality of using an untested and unproven method of execution. The Alabama Attorney General’s Office said in an Aug. 25 request to set an execution date for Smith that […]
Alabama’s experiment with death
Alabama will soon attempt to suffocate a death row inmate. It could be several months away. Maybe longer. And it’s never been done to a human being before. But despite that — and despite Alabama’s record of incompetence in carrying out executions — it’s almost certain the state will get to try the new execution […]
U.S. Supreme Court upholds Alabama inmate’s request to die by nitrogen hypoxia
The U.S. Supreme Court Monday upheld a lower court’s decision that allowed a death row inmate subjected to a botched execution last year to choose death by nitrogen hypoxia. The high court turned down an appeal from the Alabama Department of Corrections, which argued that move by Kenneth Eugene Smith was a delaying tactic. In […]