Alabama is seeking to become the first state to execute a prisoner by making him breathe pure nitrogen

Alabama is seeking to become the first state to execute a prisoner by making him breathe pure nitrogen.

The Alabama attorney general’s office on Friday asked the state Supreme Court to set an execution date for death row inmate Kenneth Eugene Smith, 58. The court filing indicated Alabama plans to put him to death by nitrogen hypoxia, an execution method that is authorized in three states but has never been used.

Nitrogen hypoxia is caused by forcing the inmate to breathe only nitrogen, depriving them of oxygen and causing them to die. Nitrogen makes up 78% of the air inhaled by humans and is harmless when inhaled with oxygen. While proponents of the new method have theorized it would be painless, opponents have likened it to human experimentation.

  • madcaesar@lemmy.world
    43·
    1 year ago

    I used to fully pro death penalty, especially for some of the sick fucks…

    But then I learned about all the false convictions, some COERCED by the fucking police, and since then I’m 100% against the death penalty.

    The satisfaction I get from a heinous killer getting killed, does not outweigh the horror I feel for even one innocent life being taken by the state.

    • insomniac@sh.itjust.works
      22·
      1 year ago

      It’s also cheaper to keep people in jail forever than put them to death because of all the appeals. And despite being more careful, we still get it wrong.

      • Agent_of_Kayos@lemm.ee
        1·
        1 year ago

        Also, in my mind, death is a release. Keep those fuckers stuck in their filty meat suits while they rot in prison for the rest of their lives with no hope for escape. The especially heinous ones will get extra comeuppance from the other inmates