Alabama Supreme Court Approves Use of Nitrogen Gas for Inmate Execution

Alabama's Supreme Court has granted an execution warrant for inmate Kenneth Eugene Smith, allowing the state to become the first to attempt execution using nitrogen gas. The decision comes after the state's previous attempt to execute Smith via lethal injection was called off due to difficulties in connecting the intravenous lines. While Alabama joins Oklahoma and Mississippi in authorizing nitrogen hypoxia as a form of execution, no state has yet attempted to use it. Smith's legal team had urged the court to reject the execution request, arguing that it would make him a test subject for an untested method. The proposed method involves depriving the inmate of oxygen by forcing them to breathe only nitrogen.