Alabama Proceeds with Execution by Nitrogen Hypoxia

 In November of 2022, inmate Kenneth Smith was set to be executed by lethal injection in Alabama for his part in a 1988 murder for hire. However, an intravenous line failed to be inserted into Smith, and after numerous attempts on multiple veins, prison officials were required to stop as the execution warrant expired. Many states have had problems administering lethal injections; consequently, Alabama utilized a different method of capital punishment: execution by nitrogen hypoxia, a type of nitrogen gas. Execution by nitrogen hypoxia has only been legalized in two other states besides Alabama— Oklahoma and Mississippi. However, Alabama is the only one to use this method. Oklahoma and Mississippi have not even created  a protocol for this procedure.

 According to CNN, many specialists, including anesthesiologists, are skeptical of the procedure. Dr. Joel Zivot, an associate professor of anesthesiology and surgery at Emory, has raised concerns that nitrogen hypoxia could cause seizures which might induce  vomiting  in the mask that dispenses the gas, potentially causing  the inmate to choke to death due to the lack of air and inhalation of liquid. Zivot also mentions the risks of an inadequate seal on the mask, stating that the leakage could put others at risk such as spiritual advisors, corrections officers, advisers, or witnesses.  

Additionally, before the execution, there were concerns about the humaneness of this style of execution. Experts at the United Nations (UN) expressed their concerns that the “nitrogen hypoxia would result in a painful and humiliating death.”  Less than two weeks later, the UN Commissioner for Human Rights put out a statement urging Alabama to halt the execution, stating that it “could amount to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment under international human rights law.”  However, despite the call for a postponement of the killing, the execution took place on the evening of Thursday, January 25th, 2024. This was only after Alabama was granted permission to proceed by the Supreme Court in a 6-3 decision. 

According to The New York Times, lawyers had previously claimed that the gas would cause Smith to pass out in seconds; however,  witnesses at Smith’s execution  watched as he “shook and writhed” for at least two minutes before “beginning to breathe heavily.” Reporter Lee Hedgepath shared with the Times, “This was the fifth execution that I’ve witnessed in Alabama, and I have never seen such a violent reaction to an execution.” It remains to be seen whether nitrogen hypoxia will become a routine occurrence on death row across the U.S.. According to CNN, as of January 26th, 43 additional death row inmates in the state of Alabama have requested execution by nitrogen hypoxia.

By Leah Medeiros