Alabama ‘close’ to finishing nitrogen execution protocol
A fence stands at Elmore Correctional Facility in Elmore, Ala., June 18, 2015. The head of Alabama's prison system said Wednesday that a protocol for using nitrogen gas to carry out executions should be finished this year.
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — The head of Alabama’s prison system said Wednesday that a protocol for using nitrogen gas to carry out executions should be finished this year.
“We’re close. We’re close,” Alabama Commissioner John Hamm said of the new execution method that the state has been working to develop for several years.
He said the protocol “should be” finished by the end of the year. Hamm made the comment in response to a question from The Associated Press about the status of the new execution method. Once the protocol is finished, there would be litigation over the untested execution method before the state attempts to use it.
Nitrogen hypoxia is a proposed execution method in which death would be caused by forcing the inmate to breathe only nitrogen, thereby depriving them of the oxygen needed to maintain bodily functions. Alabama, Oklahoma and Mississippi have authorized the use of nitrogen hypoxia, but it has never been used to carry out a death sentence.
Alabama lawmakers in 2018 approved legislation that authorized nitrogen hypoxia as an alternate execution method. Supporters said the state needed a new method as lethal injection drugs became difficult to obtain. Lawmakers theorized that death by nitrogen hypoxia could be a simpler and more humane execution method. But critics have likened the untested method to human experimentation.
The state has disclosed little information about the new execution method. The Alabama Department of Corrections told a federal judge in 2021 that it had completed a “system” to use nitrogen gas but did not describe it.
Although lethal injection remains the primary method for carrying out death sentences, the legislation gave inmates a brief window to select nitrogen as their execution method. A number of inmates selected nitrogen.
Hamm also said a review of the state’s execution procedures should be completed, “probably within the next month.”
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey requested a pause in executions to review procedures after lethal injections were halted. Ivey cited concerns for the victims and their families in ordering the review in Alabama.
“For the sake of the victims and their families, we’ve got to get this right,” Ivey said.
A group of faith leaders last week urged Ivey to authorize an independent review of execution procedures, as Oklahoma and Tennessee did after a series of failed lethal injections in those states.
Supreme Court to decide whether Alabama can postpone drawing new congressional districts
The outcome could determine what map the state uses in the 2024 elections and whether the high court will revisit arguments over the role of race in redistricting.
Q&A: Author of ‘Rocket Men’ details how Black quarterbacks helped move the NFL forward
John Eisenberg talks with the Gulf States Newsroom about the Black quarterbacks who helped change the NFL, as well as the players who never got the chance.
Q&A: Why New Orleans’ unhoused people face increased danger from relentless heat
Delaney Nolan discusses her report for The Guardian that revealed a spike in heat-related illness calls among New Orleans’ unhoused people this summer.
How a rural Alabama school system outdid the country with gains in math
Piedmont City schools notched significant improvement in math, landing in the top spot among school districts across the country in a comparison of scores from before and during the pandemic. Nationwide, students on average fell half a year behind in math, researchers say.
Video shows high school band director shocked with stun gun, arrested after refusing to stop music
State Rep. Juandalynn Givan, who is representing band director Johnny Mims as his attorney, said Tuesday that the incident is an “alarming abuse of power” that instead “should have been should have been deescalated.”
Protecting Margaritaville: Jimmy Buffett, Bama and the Fight to Save the Manatee
The singer, who died Sept. 1, grew up in Mobile and had a huge following in Alabama, even if many of his devotees in the state were less than thrilled by his liberal politics.