A first in US: Why Alabama used nitrogen to execute a prisoner
Alabama has made history by executing Kenneth Eugene Smith using nitrogen gas, marking the first instance of this method in the United States. The execution has reignited the debate over capital punishment, with numerous voices from within the country and around the world raising concerns about the humanity and legality of this new approach.
What’s driving the news
- Kenneth Eugene Smith, convicted for a murder-for-hire crime dating back over three decades, was executed using pure nitrogen gas, a method never before used in the US.
- Smith, 58, was pronounced dead at 8:25pm Thursday at an Alabama prison after breathing the gas through a face mask to cause oxygen deprivation.
- It marked the first time a new execution method was used in the US since 1982, when lethal injection was introduced and later became the most common method.
- The execution, which took about 22 minutes and witnessed Smith convulsing on the gurney, has placed the United States at the vanguard of discussions on capital punishment methods.
Accuses and his last moments
- Smith was convicted of the murder-for-hire killing of 45-year-old Elizabeth Sennett, who was shot in the head by Smith and his accomplice John Forrest Parker at her home in Jefferson County.
- Smith and his accomplice were hired by Sennett’s estranged husband, who was also convicted and sentenced to life in prison.
- Smith was a former truck driver who had a history of drug abuse and mental health issues. He confessed to killing Sennett in exchange for $1,000 from her husband, who wanted to collect her life insurance policy and avoid a divorce settlement. Smith expressed remorse for his crime and said he was leaving with “love, peace and light.”
- The other accused, John Forrest Parker, was executed in 2010.
- Smith ate a last meal of T-bone steak, hash browns, toast and eggs slathered in A1 steak sauce, Hood said by telephone before the execution was carried out.
- Before the nitrogen was switched on, Smith made a lengthy final statement that began: “Tonight, Alabama caused humanity to take a step backward.”
- “He’s terrified at the torture that could come. But he’s also at peace. One of the things he told me is he is finally getting out,” Smith’s spiritual adviser, the Rev Jeff Hood said.
Jeff Hood, the spiritual advisor to Kenneth Smith, hugs Smith’s wife, Deanna, after speaking to reporters, following Smith’s execution by asphyxiation using pure nitrogen at Holman Correctional Facility, in Atmore, Alabama.
Why Nitrogen
- Alabama adopted nitrogen gas as an alternative execution method in 2018, after facing difficulties in obtaining lethal injection drugs and facing lawsuits from death row inmates who claimed the drugs caused severe pain and suffering.
- Nitrogen gas, which makes up 78% of the air we breathe, is supposed to induce hypoxia, or a lack of oxygen, in the body, leading to a quick and painless death.
- However, there is no scientific evidence or precedent to support this claim, and critics say the method is experimental and risky.
- This method was predicted to be a “painless and humane” alternative to lethal injection.
- But, Smith appeared to shake and convulse on the gurney for several minutes, raising questions about the humaneness and effectiveness of the nitrogen gas method.
- Smith’s execution, taking about 22 minutes, was marked by visible physical distress. He shook and convulsed on the gurney, a sight that challenges the state’s claim of nitrogen hypoxia being a humane execution method. His last words, “I’m leaving with love, peace, and light,” contrasted the troubling scene.
- Alabama, along with Mississippi and Oklahoma, authorized nitrogen hypoxia due to the increasing difficulty in acquiring the drugs necessary for lethal injections.
What others are saying
- The execution has drawn significant criticism and concern from various corners.
- Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who along with two other liberal justices dissented, wrote, “Having failed to kill Smith on its first attempt, Alabama has selected him as its ‘guinea pig’ to test a method of execution never attempted before. The world is watching.”
- On the other hand, Alabama officials, including governor Kay Ivey and attorney general Steve Marshall, defended the execution, asserting that it served justice and was carried out humanely.
- International bodies like the European Union and the UN Human Rights Office have expressed regret over the execution, highlighting that the death penalty contravenes the right to life and does not serve as a deterrent to crime.
- -“The use of nitrogen gas for executions is a macabre experiment that exposes prisoners to the risk of extreme suffering,” said Cassandra Stubbs, director of the ACLU’s Capital Punishment Project.
- “The death penalty is an abhorrent punishment that should be abolished everywhere and for all crimes. The use of nitrogen gas, or any other method, does not make it any less so,” said a spokesperson for the UN Human Rights Office.
What’s next
- The last US execution using gas was in 1999 when a convicted murderer was put to death using hydrogen cyanide gas.
- There were 24 executions in the United States in 2023, all of them carried out by lethal injection.
- The US Supreme Court, which has a conservative majority, has shown little interest in revisiting the constitutionality of the death penalty or the methods used to carry it out.
- As the conversation around capital punishment continues to evolve, the use of nitrogen gas in executions may prompt further scrutiny and legal challenges.
- The debate touches on broader issues surrounding the death penalty’s role in modern justice systems, the ethical implications of different execution methods, and the need for transparency and legal oversight in the procedures involved.
(With inputs from agencies)