By Maribel Velazquez
A federal judge determined that the executions using nitrogen gas are constitutional and do not violate the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. The decision represents an important endorsement for Alabama, the state that has most used this controversial method of death penalty.
The resolution was issued by federal judge Emily C. Markswho rejected the lawsuit filed by Jeffery Lee, a prisoner convicted of murder who will be executed on June 11 by nitrogen hypoxia.
According to AP, the trial was the first in the United States to thoroughly analyze the constitutionality of this execution system, used for the first time in Alabama in 2024.
How the nitrogen method works
Nitrogen hypoxia consists of placing a mask over the condemned man’s face and replace the oxygen with pure nitrogencausing death due to lack of breathable air.
During the trial, state and defense attorneys debated how long inmates remain conscious before passing out. Judge Marks acknowledged that the procedure probably causes “severe respiratory distress” for several minutes, although he concluded that this does not reach the level of merciless and unusual punishment prohibited by the Constitution.
“Lee demonstrates that there is some suffering, but he failed to prove that the protocol is unconstitutional,” the judge wrote in her ruling.
The decision clears the path for Alabama to continue applying the method and could influence other states that have already legally approved the use of nitrogen for executions.
Criticism and debate over the death penalty
The ruling generated immediate reactions. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, welcomed the resolution and stated that the court confirmed that it is up to citizens and their representatives to decide on capital punishment.
However, organizations that oppose the death penalty harshly criticized the decision. Abraham Bonowitz, director of the group Death Penalty Traipse, said that execution using nitrogen is equivalent to “conscious asphyxiation.”
“With what we know about these methods, I can’t imagine anyone would choose to die like this.”he declared.
The case also reopened the debate over sentences handed down under old judicial systems. In Lee’s case, the jury originally recommended life in prison, but a judge overturned that decision and ordered the death penalty, a practice that Alabama officially ended in 2017. Lee’s attorneys announced they will appeal the sentence.
Keep reading:
- Death penalty in Arizona: why it can take up to 20 years to be carried out
- Texas executes prisoner number 600: what is the Hispanic weight on death row
