Why is Alabama executing a man using nitrogen gas?
A death row inmate is set to be executed using a novel method. Why are authorities in Alabama using nitrogen gas, and why is it controversial? Kenneth Eugene Smith was originally scheduled to be put to death with deadly drugs in November 2022. Prison staff inserted one intravenous line, but two lines were required to administer the lethal injection. After they struggled for an hour to insert the second IV, the execution was called off. Now Smith - who was convicted of the murder-for-hire of a preacher's wife in 1988 - is scheduled to be executed using nitrogen gas instead. The gas will choke off oxygen to his brain, a process called nitrogen hypoxia. It's a controversial method that has never been used before by a US state. And it represents the latest step in the search for a new way to execute convicted criminals - even as the death penalty has become less popular over time. The problems with lethal injection Around half of US states still have death penalty laws. Execution ...