Witnesses watched through a window at an Alabama prison as Kenneth Eugene Smith became the nation's first person to be put to death using nitrogen gas.
My understanding is that the feeling of suffocation is only due to a build up of CO2. So filling a room (or a mask I guess in this case) should not cause that feeling. Existential dread, fear, etc are obviously not affected, but it shouldn’t feel like they’re being strangled and can’t breathe.
You’re right though, in that obviously doing something inhumane such as killing people can’t be made humane. Its a paradox. And with our system specifically, I don’t think there is a way to do the death penalty “right” because the system isn’t just. Or even effective and logical.
The pain will come from the desire to not be killed, i.e., holding your breath and resisting breathing the gas.
Just because the gas ITSELF doesn’t necessarily cause pain does not mean the METHOD isn’t going to be immensely painful. Judging the technique based on how an unknowing or cooperative victim will perform is just so dumb when it is an execution method.
I mean, we don’t even know that this execution caused pain. Pain is subject and the only guy who can comment on it is dead.
All we know is that the guy was thrashing around and then seized on the bed over the course of the 20ish minutes from administering the gas to when he apparently went lifeless.
But it sure sounds like it was excruciating to me.
My understanding is that the feeling of suffocation is only due to a build up of CO2. So filling a room (or a mask I guess in this case) should not cause that feeling. Existential dread, fear, etc are obviously not affected, but it shouldn’t feel like they’re being strangled and can’t breathe.
You’re right though, in that obviously doing something inhumane such as killing people can’t be made humane. Its a paradox. And with our system specifically, I don’t think there is a way to do the death penalty “right” because the system isn’t just. Or even effective and logical.
The pain will come from the desire to not be killed, i.e., holding your breath and resisting breathing the gas.
Just because the gas ITSELF doesn’t necessarily cause pain does not mean the METHOD isn’t going to be immensely painful. Judging the technique based on how an unknowing or cooperative victim will perform is just so dumb when it is an execution method.
I saw other people say that later in the thread. Do we know if that’s why this execution caused pain?
I mean, we don’t even know that this execution caused pain. Pain is subject and the only guy who can comment on it is dead.
All we know is that the guy was thrashing around and then seized on the bed over the course of the 20ish minutes from administering the gas to when he apparently went lifeless.
But it sure sounds like it was excruciating to me.