Kenneth Eugene Smith’s execution would be the nation’s first using nitrogen gas.

Kenneth Eugene Smith’s execution would be the nation’s first using nitrogen gas.

Lawyers for a spiritual adviser to an Alabama inmate scheduled to be executed with nitrogen gas next month said in a complaint filed Wednesday that restrictions on how close the adviser can get to the inmate in the death chamber are “hostile to religion.”

The Rev. Jeff Hood, who plans to enter the death chamber to minister to Kenneth Eugene Smith, said the Alabama Department of Corrections asked him to sign a form acknowledging the risks and agreeing to stay 3 feet (0.9 meters) away from Smith’s gas mask. Hood, a death penalty opponent, said that shows there is a risk to witnesses attending the execution. He said the restrictions would also interfere with his ability to minister to Smith before he is put to death.

“They’ve asked me to sign a waiver, which to me speaks to the fact that they’re already concerned that things could go wrong,” Hood said in a telephone interview.

Smith’s execution would be the nation’s first using nitrogen gas. The nitrogen is planned be administered through the gas mask placed over Smith’s nose and mouth while he is strapped to a gurney in the death chamber normally used for lethal injections.

  • Birdie@thelemmy.club
    254·
    11 months ago

    I guess if we want to be respectful to religion, we should stone him and the preacher can get as close as he wants. I bet he wouldn’t have a problem standing at a distance in that scenario.

        • RedAggroBest@lemmy.world
          31·
          11 months ago

          Yea, definitely had me going “wait you still want him to be put to death?” until I got down the comment chain.

          Tbf Lemmy has a disproportionate number of tankies, who I’d reason would actually hold an anti-religion/pro-capital-punishment stance.

          • nixcamic@lemmy.world
            1·
            11 months ago

            Tbf Lemmy has a disproportionate number of tankies, who I’d reason would actually hold an anti-religion/pro-capital-punishment stance.

            Yeah that’s what I thought it was.

  • MagicShel@programming.dev
    234·
    11 months ago

    Or they’re worried he will accidentally dislodge the mask and interfere with the proper administration of nitrogen. There is no actual danger to breathing nitrogen - the air we breathe is mostly nitrogen - we just need oxygen mixed in. It’s all a stage play for delaying his execution.

    I’m not in favor of execution, but this is the most humane method we have available. So until we can stop executing people, it would be good not to fuck with doing it in this way.

  • IphtashuFitz@lemmy.worldEnglish
    152·
    11 months ago

    So use an old fashioned gas chamber instead of a mask? This never seemed to be an issue when inmates were executed that way…

    • EatATaco@lemm.eeEnglish
      122·
      11 months ago

      Because the state had much more leeway to trample on people’s rights at that time. My gut tells me you didn’t read the article. I didn’t either, but I just listened to a podcast about this case yesterday.