Alabama intends to put a man to death with nitrogen gas this week unless stopped by the courts. It would be the nation's first execution attempt with the method.

Alabama, unless stopped by the courts, intends to strap Kenneth Eugene Smith to a gurney Thursday and use a gas mask to replace breathable air with nitrogen, depriving him of oxygen, in the nation’s first execution attempt with the method.

The Alabama attorney general’s office told federal appeals court judges last week that nitrogen hypoxia is “the most painless and humane method of execution known to man.” But what exactly Smith, 58, will feel after the warden switches on the gas is unknown, some doctors and critics say.

“What effect the condemned person will feel from the nitrogen gas itself, no one knows,” Dr. Jeffrey Keller, president of the American College of Correctional Physicians, wrote in an email. “This has never been done before. It is an experimental procedure.”

Keller, who was not involved in developing the Alabama protocol, said the plan is to “eliminate all of the oxygen from the air” that Smith is breathing by replacing it with nitrogen.

  • seukari@lemmy.world
    93·
    10 months ago

    There’s a great Jacob Geller video about how methods of execution have evolved and why they’ve evolved.

    I wouldn’t do it justice but it points out how every time we make a ‘more humane’ way of killing it often just reduces the person’s ability to show suffering, rather than reducing the suffering itself. In many cases the suffering is increased as we say the method is less barbaric; a firing squad has the highest success rate and likely the fastest death.

    I can’t recommend this enough https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eirR4FHY2YY Piped bot do your thing

    • turmacar@lemmy.world
      4·
      10 months ago

      We should abolish the death penalty.

      Pretending no one knows what happens when people breathe pure nitrogen until they die is absolutely ludicrous. Especially because what you’re breathing right now is mostly nitrogen.

      We know what happens because it happens to mine workers and scuba divers and others by accident. It’s pretty pain/panic-less, which is normally why it’s such a big deal to try and avoid. It’s advocated for as a method by right-to-die proponents because it’s so painless. Pretending this is random human experimentation just gives leverage to dismiss the entire argument.

    • werefreeatlast@lemmy.world
      43·
      10 months ago

      We, as many other families before us at the Hillcrest palliative care hospital in San Diego, had to pull the plug on my Dad because the insurance company thought he wouldn’t recover so they used a psycho asshole to convince the family to just pull the plug. It’s not worth loosing your house over loosing the person who worked his ass off to buy it.

      Now imagine how awesome one of us would feel if dying from oxygen deprivation was actually more painful than other means? Wouldn’t we then start asking for squad style send offs at the hospital?

      I’ve been through pulling the plug and my dad didn’t speak English so he’s not gonna be mad if I joke about it…like you would go up to him and whisper some last words…“hey dad what’s the admin password to the router again? And he would say " I’m tired, I’ll tell you tomorrow. Then you would say, no you won’t dad, no you won’t, I’m so sorry”. He might ask what do you mean I won’t, you come back here you little shit and clarify that for me! But by that time you and your six siblings would each have cocked the guns already. One one of the guns would have the bullet and everyone would be blindfolded. Off they six pops go and then you grieve. Other things happen like the cleanup crew would have to do their job. The facial reconstructionist would come in with the hot glue gun and do his thing with spray paint and lipstick. I mean after they removed the gag.

      But sure maybe lethal injection was the way to go. A little cleaner. You still gotta remove the gag later. I can’t imagine electrocution as a proper way. But maybe a last palliative sunset view with Dynamite on the bed and a dead man’s switch. That would be a real quick and painless way to go. Plus if you do it on a boat in Florida waters the circle of life would take care of it…and no awkward funeral!

      Okay gotta go start the day 😁. This is all sarcasm and like I said, my dad doesn’t or didn’t speak English… with the gag and all…so anyway…