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submitted 1 year ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/news@lemmy.world

Alabama is seeking to become the first state to execute a prisoner by making him breathe pure nitrogen.

The Alabama attorney general’s office on Friday asked the state Supreme Court to set an execution date for death row inmate Kenneth Eugene Smith, 58. The court filing indicated Alabama plans to put him to death by nitrogen hypoxia, an execution method that is authorized in three states but has never been used.

Nitrogen hypoxia is caused by forcing the inmate to breathe only nitrogen, depriving them of oxygen and causing them to die. Nitrogen makes up 78% of the air inhaled by humans and is harmless when inhaled with oxygen. While proponents of the new method have theorized it would be painless, opponents have likened it to human experimentation.

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[-] bemenaker@lemmy.world 56 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Nitrogen is pretty cheap, and would be considered way more human. Bullets aren't an instant death, the cattle thing would be but considered brutal. Both a firing squad and cattle thing would be considered cruel and unusual punishment, the SCOTUS has already said firing squads are cruel and unusual. The classic three drug cocktail was painless but no one will.make it.

Nitrogen makes you feel.like.your drunk, nitrogen narcosis, until you pass out. It is considered painless.

But the real question you should be asking is, why do we even still allow the death penalty. Innocent people have been put to death. Or at least enough doubt that they shouldn't have been killed.

[-] Vaggumon@lemm.ee 17 points 1 year ago

But revenge is more important then justice. /s

[-] its_pizza@sopuli.xyz 3 points 1 year ago

The 3 drug cocktail worked, but it was often a minimally-trained technician charged with placing the actual IV lines. I know most of us have had an IV sometime in our life with relatively little pain, but that seems not to be the case for some inmates. Anxiety, old age, obesity, dehydration, and myriad other reasons can make it more challenging to place a catheter.

[-] pulaskiwasright@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Bullets aren't an instant death, the cattle thing would be but considered brutal.

Bullets and the cattle thing are both instant when they are fired at the right part of the brain. Why is more brutal and less humane? If it kills them immediately, then it’s as humane as killing someone gets.

[-] bemenaker@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

Firing squads didn't shoot you in the head.

[-] pulaskiwasright@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I didn’t say they should use a firing squad. I said they could shoot you in the part of the brain with a bullet that will kill you instantly.

[-] bemenaker@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

And it is illegal per cruel and unusual punishment clause.of the Constitution

[-] pulaskiwasright@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 year ago

Why is it cruel and unusual to kill someone instantly with a bullet and not cruel and unusual to electrocute or hang someone?

It’s not actually written in the constitution that killing someone instantly with a bullet is a cruel and unusual punishment. It’s an interpretation of the constitution that is frankly bizarre considering the ways we do actually execute people.

[-] theneverfox@pawb.social 1 points 1 year ago

Bullets are as instant death as it gets. For a couple bucks you can headshot someone with a 50 cal, you can vaporize the brain way before neurons can propagate... Literally impossible to feel pain physically

Humane isn't about the victim though, it's about the observers. Nitrogen is painless and it's not until the last moments the victim even notices, but in those last months there might be panic

If you disagree with my point, ask yourself... Heroin or fentanyl OD is probably about the cheapest and most pleasant death, why has it never even been considered?

[-] bemenaker@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

I think fentanyl is a great solution, if you're going to allow the death penalty, which I'm against. And it's more than just a bullet. Read the SCOTUS decision that banned firing squads. The cruel and inhuman part isn't even the pain felt, it's the terror inflicted waiting for it to happen. Psychologically it is far worse waiting for a gun shot than an injection that will put you to sleep and numb you. Mentally there is a huge difference. It is psychological terror, and therefore cruel and inhuman punishment.

[-] intensely_human@lemm.ee -4 points 1 year ago

I would rather be shot than nitrogen then because I want to die sober.

this post was submitted on 26 Aug 2023
472 points (98.4% liked)

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