Tortured to Death in Alabama

"After a series of botched lethal injections in 2022, correctional officials in Alabama ushered in a new method of execution that would sidestep the legal challenges resulting from those debacles. This new method amounts to suffocation by gas, specifically by the inhalation of pure nitrogen, a technique that was proposed by a California screenwriter in a 1995 National Review article titled "Killing With Kindness: Capital Punishment by Nitrogen Asphyxiation.""

"Yesterday, Alabama executed Anthony Boyd, a 54-year-old man who was convicted of a 1993 murder related to a drug transaction. (Boyd maintained his innocence throughout his incarceration, and reiterated it in his final words.) Prior nitrogen suffocations in Alabama were deeply troubled-Kenneth Eugene Smith, the first victim of execution by nitrogen hypoxia in the world, reportedly remained conscious for several minutes after inhaling the lethal gas, thrashing uncontrollably on the gurney."

"Nevertheless, correctional officials decided to subject Boyd to the same ghastly process. But Boyd's execution was, according to the Alabama reporter Lee Hedgepeth, even more spectacularly brutal than Smith's. Strapped down with a gas mask affixed to his face, Boyd gasped for air more than 200 times. His eyes rolled back entirely as his body strained and shuddered against his restraints. Boyd took more than 30 minutes to die, making his execution the most protracted nitrogen suffocation in history."

Alabama adopted nitrogen hypoxia after multiple botched lethal injections in 2022 to avoid legal challenges. The technique involves inhalation of pure nitrogen and was originally proposed in a 1995 National Review article. Earlier nitrogen executions were deeply troubled, with Kenneth Eugene Smith reportedly remaining conscious and thrashing for several minutes after inhaling the gas. Anthony Boyd's execution lasted more than 30 minutes; he gasped for air over 200 times, his eyes rolled back, and his body strained against restraints. That execution became the most protracted nitrogen suffocation in history and undermines claims that nitrogen hypoxia is humane and painless. Secrecy around execution sequencing and the pattern of failed methods raise serious Eighth Amendment concerns about cruel and unusual punishment.

Read at The Atlantic