A federal judge who is weighing whether to allow the nation’s first execution by nitrogen hypoxia to go forward next month, urged Alabama on Thursday to change procedures so the inmate can pray and say his final words before the gas mask is placed on his face.
U.S. District Judge R. Austin Huffaker made the suggestion in a court order setting a Dec. 29 deadline to submit information before he rules on the inmate’s request to block the execution. The judge made similar comments the day prior at the conclusion of a court hearing.
Alabama is scheduled to execute Kenneth Eugene Smith on Jan. 25 in what would be the nation’s first execution using nitrogen gas. Nitrogen hypoxia is authorized as an execution method in Alabama, Mississippi and Oklahoma but has never been used to put an inmate to death.
The proposed execution method would use a gas mask, placed over Smith’s nose and mouth, to replace breathable air with nitrogen, causing Smith to die from lack of oxygen.
That’s a great point, and one I’ve tried to make to people (without much success) many times. If you become as cruel and fueled by revenge or hate as the person who did something terrible, then you’ve sunk to their level or even lower. Revenge never balances anyone’s scales - it just weighs the side with EVIL in it down with even greater weight.
And I’m not against capital punishment, in some ways it seems a little less cruel than giving someone a lifetime sentence in prison. I do agree with you absolutely on everything you’ve said.