State’s ‘slow and agonizing’ execution of Kenneth Smith using an untested method labeled as cruel by experts and advocates

Smith’s execution by “nitrogen hypoxia” took around 22 minutes, according to media witnesses, who were led into a viewing room at the William C Holman correctional facility in Atmore shortly before 8 pm local time.

    • jarfil@beehaw.org
      8·
      11 months ago

      Apparently they tried that on this guy first, but couldn’t find a vein. Guess he did everything possible to make it hard to find one… and they didn’t knock him out first, like with some laughing gas.

      suffocation is not going to be humane… even with pure nitrogen

      With pure nitrogen, unconsciousness comes first. Emphasis on the “pure” part; the moment any CO2 or O2 gets into the mix, shit happens.

        • Smoke@beehaw.orgEnglish
          5·
          11 months ago

          but yeah, why wouldn’t they just use standard anesthesia gas? or nitrous oxide?

          Because the suppliers don’t want to be associated with executions, so they won’t sell any to the state for that purpose.

        • jarfil@beehaw.org
          3·
          11 months ago

          It highly depends on the skill of the nurse, some have a sixth sense to do it at the first try. I have my veins destroyed thanks to long hospital stays while getting pumped full of antibiotics… but just today went to get some blood drawn, got the good nurse, and he did it on the first try. Actually barely felt it at all.

          As for the Swiss guys, they have other non-art methods that can also use nitrogen… but they’re all targeted at people willing to die, not trying to fight it.

    • FfaerieOxide@kbin.social
      5·
      11 months ago

      we have the ability to render people unconscious first…

      The people who have that ability would rightly lose their license if they used that ability to facilitate an execution.

          • Swallowtail@beehaw.org
            4·
            11 months ago

            I agree with you. Imagine a country starts rounding up and murdering some ethnic/religious minority. Doctors shouldn’t be like “ahh we must help the government kill them in the most humane way possible!” If anything that’s enabling it.

    • Kornblumenratte@feddit.de
      5·
      11 months ago

      The only problem is that that’s just the theory. There are lot of steps that can and will go wrong in practice and turn this method into torture. What is the rate of botched executions by injection? I don’t know, but well above 0 %.