US federal judge temporarily blocks inmate’s execution by nitrogen gas – JURIST
US District Court Judge Shelly Dick issued a preliminary injunction on Tuesday that temporarily blocked a Louisiana inmate’s execution by nitrogen gas, ruling that the largely untested method could cause the inmate “pain and terror” in violation of the Eighth Amendment.
The Louisiana State Penitentiary scheduled inmate Jessie Hoffman’s execution by nitrogen gas for March 18, many years after the Louisiana Supreme Court convicted him of kidnapping, raping, and murdering Molly Elliot in 1997. The court originally sentenced Hoffman to death by legal injection, but DPSC Secretary Gary Escott changed the method of execution to nitrogen hypoxia on February 20, just one year after Louisiana lawmakers passed a bill authorizing the use of nitrogen and electrocution as execution methods.
The preliminary injunction coincides with a federal Alabama court’s decision to deny a respondent’s motion to dismiss an inmate’s case challenging the constitutionality of death by hypoxia. Since 2007, inmate David Wilson has been on Alabama’s death row after he was convicted of capital murder for his involvement in a robbery that resulted in a homeowner’s death. In 2018, the State of Alabama amended its execution laws, allowing inmates to choose between death by nitrogen hypoxia or lethal injection. Wilson opted for nitrogen hypoxia as an execution method.
In 2023, the Alabama Department of Corrections published an updated protocol on the nitrogen hypoxia method, calling for “pure nitrogen gas to flow into a mask fitted on the condemned inmate’s face, reducing the oxygen inside the mask and leading to the inmate’s death.” Wilson argued that the protocol amounted to “cruel and unusual punishment” under the Eighth Amendment, citing to scientific studies showing that nitrogen hyproxia caused a slow, painful death.
In further support of his argument, Wilson referenced Kenneth Smith’s 2024 execution by nitrogen hypoxia which lasted 22 minutes. To refute the state’s claim that nitrogen hypoxia would result in a painless death, Wilson’s complaint described the way in which Smith suffered a “torturous, twenty-two-minute execution, including about four to six minutes of struggling, writhing, and shaking against restraints; followed by five to seven minutes of deep breathing.” American Civil Liberties Union Deputy Legal Director Yasmis Cader and Director of the Trone Center for Justice and Equality stated that “Alabama’s execution of Kenneth Smith in a horrific, reckless, and untested manner [was] a profound illustration of the barbaric practice of capital punishment.”
The Equal Justice Initiative has addressed the multiple risks of nitrogen hypoxia execution, which include vomit asphyxiation, brain damage, stroke, or a persistent vegetative state. The organization also notes that equipment malfunctions could injure or kill prison staff members administering the execution. Three major US nitrogen manufacturers prohibit use of their products from being used for execution purposes, and have stated that using their products for executions is “not consistent” with the company’s values because ” … they do not want their products to be used to kill.”
While Louisiana, Oklahoma, Mississippi, and Alabama are the only states that currently allow execution by nitrogen hypoxia, Alabama is the first and only state to have used the execution method.
