An Alabama inmate would be the test subject for the “experimental” execution method of nitrogen hypoxia, his lawyers argued, as they asked judges to deny the state’s request to carry out his death sentence using the new method.

In a Friday court filing, attorneys for Kenneth Eugene Smith asked the Alabama Supreme Court to reject the state attorney general’s request to set an execution date for Smith using the proposed new execution method. Nitrogen gas is authorized as an execution method in three states but it has never been used to put an inmate to death.

Smith’s attorneys argued the state has disclosed little information about how nitrogen executions would work, releasing only a redacted copy of the proposed protocol.

  • onionbaggage@lemmynsfw.com
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    52
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    9 months ago

    The state should never execute anyone because it implies two things that aren’t true:

    1. That the system is infallible.
    2. That a person doesn’t have the capacity to improve/rehabilitate.

    That being said. I’ll take this method over any other for sure.

    • stepanzak@iusearchlinux.fyi
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      5
      arrow-down
      4
      ·
      9 months ago

      I absolutely agree with you in the first point, but I think there are cases where person really doesn’t have the capacity, or we don’t want to try it. I think of mass murderers or child murderers or something like that. People who are going to spend their whole life in jail with life-sentence with no way of ever getting out and who cost the state money and are the reason why some people want death sentence back in my country for example. The first point still applies however and there are cases of people getting out of jail after ten or fifteen years when new evidence is discovered.

    • hoch@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      3
      arrow-down
      20
      ·
      9 months ago

      I agree with part 1, but the majority of people on death row do not deserve rehabilitation.

      • Shapillon@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        7
        arrow-down
        2
        ·
        9 months ago

        What about the fact that death penalties usually cost more than life sentences without parole?

        • UID_Zero@infosec.pub
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          4
          ·
          9 months ago

          See point 1.

          The system isn’t infallible. There’s always a small (but non-zero) chance that they put an innocent person to death. There are multiple records of people being put to death and later being found innocent.

          That’s enough justification for me to abolish the death penalty.