A federal judge on Tuesday permanently blocked Alabama from executing an inmate with nitrogen gas after declaring the method violates the U.S. Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Associated Press.
U.S. District Judge Emily Marks issued the ruling hours after an appeals court reversed her initial finding that the method was constitutional. Marks permanently enjoined the state from executing Jeffrey Lee, 49, by nitrogen gas. He was scheduled to be executed Thursday.
The decision, for now, blocks the use of the controversial new execution method that Alabama has championed since 2024. But the issue seems likely bound for the U.S. Supreme Court, which so far has never ruled a state's execution method to be unconstitutional.
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall's office is appealing the decision. Marks wrote that the appeals court found the method carried "a substantial risk of serious harm." She also ruled that the state had the ability to switch to Lee's preferred method, a firing squad.
Alabama in 2024 began using nitrogen gas to carry out some executions. The method involves strapping a respirator to the person's face and replacing breathable air with pure nitrogen gas, causing death from lack of oxygen. Nitrogen has been used in eight executions in the United States — seven times in Alabama and once in Louisiana. Lee was scheduled to be the ninth.
A three-judge panel from the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the three minutes it could take for an inmate to lose awareness is an "intolerable" time frame. The decision was welcomed by death penalty opponents.