Alabama is set to carry out its first execution using nitrogen gas on Thursday night, following the decisions of both the U.S. Supreme Court and a federal appeals court to proceed with the planned execution of Kenneth Eugene Smith, an Alabama inmate.
The execution method, known as nitrogen hypoxia, involves depriving the person of the oxygen necessary for bodily functions. Nitrogen, which constitutes 78 percent of the air humans inhale, is harmless when breathed with oxygen.
Kenneth Eugene Smith, 58, was convicted in the 1988 murder-for-hire killing, where he and an accomplice stabbed Elizabeth Sennett 10 times in Alabama’s Colbert County.
The use of nitrogen gas for execution has raised concerns, with human rights advocates contending that it could potentially amount to torture, cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment under international human rights law.
The U.N. Human Rights Office expressed alarm over the execution, highlighting that Alabama lacks a provision for sedation before employing the nitrogen gas method, a practice commonly used when executing large animals.
Despite these concerns, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Smith’s last-minute request to postpone the execution. The court issued a brief order without noted dissents, just one day before the scheduled execution. Subsequently, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also upheld the decision in a 2-1 vote.
