Death Penalty
Alabama seeks to carry out second execution using controversial nitrogen gas method
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall's office asked the state Supreme Court on Wednesday to set an execution date for Alan Eugene Miller. The state said Miller’s execution would be carried out using nitrogen.
Will other states replicate Alabama’s nitrogen execution?
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said Friday that the execution of Kenneth Eugene Smith, a 58-year-old convicted of a 1988 murder-for-hire, went off as planned and his office is ready to help other states if they want to begin nitrogen executions.
Alabama executes a man with nitrogen gas, the first time the new method has been used
Officials said Kenneth Eugene Smith, 58, was pronounced dead at 8:25 p.m. at an Alabama prison after breathing pure nitrogen gas through a face mask to cause oxygen deprivation.
Ahead of Kenneth Smith’s execution, people impacted by Alabama’s death penalty speak out
Death penalty opponents gathered in Birmingham Wednesday to condemn Smith’s execution and hear personal stories about the impact of death row.
Federal court says Alabama can carry out first nitrogen gas execution
A divided panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Kenneth Eugene Smith’s request for an injunction to stop his execution by nitrogen hypoxia Thursday night. Smith’s lawyers, who have argued the state is trying to make him the test subject for an experimental execution method, are expected to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Alabama calls nitrogen execution method painless and humane, but critics are raising doubts
The Alabama attorney general's office told federal appeals court judges last week that nitrogen hypoxia is "the most painless and humane method of execution known to man." But what exactly Kenneth Eugene Smith will feel after the warden switches on the gas is unknown, some doctors and critics say.
Alabama plans to carry out first nitrogen gas execution. How will it work and what are the risks?
Kenneth Eugene Smith, who survived the state’s previous attempt to put him to death by lethal injection in 2022, is scheduled to be put to death Thursday by nitrogen hypoxia. If carried out, it would the first new method of execution since lethal injection was introduced in 1982.
Spiritual adviser at first nitrogen gas execution asks Alabama for safeguards to protect witnesses
The Rev. Jeff Hood, who will stand near Kenneth Smith during his execution, sent a letter Monday to the Alabama prison system requesting safeguards in case of a nitrogen leak in the execution chamber.
Federal judge says Alabama can carry out nation’s 1st execution using nitrogen gas
U.S. District Judge R. Austin Huffaker rejected Alabama inmate Kenneth Eugene Smith’s request for an injunction to stop his scheduled Jan. 25 execution by nitrogen hypoxia.
Judge weighs request to stop nation’s first execution by nitrogen, in Alabama
Attorneys for Kenneth Eugene Smith are asking a judge to block his Jan. 25 execution by nitrogen hypoxia. They argued that the method violates the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment and said the mask would interfere with his ability to pray with his spiritual adviser.
Alabama’s plan for execution by nitrogen gas is ‘hostile to religion,’ lawsuit says
The Rev. Jeff Hood, who plans to enter the death chamber to minister to Kenneth Eugene Smith, said the Alabama Department of Corrections asked him to sign a form acknowledging the risks and agreeing to stay 3 feet away from Smith's gas mask.
Alabama inmate executed for the shooting death of man in 1993 robbery
Casey McWhorter was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death for his role in the robbery and shooting death of Edward Lee Williams on Feb. 18, 1993.
Alabama executes man for the 2001 beating death of a woman, resuming lethal injections after review
James Barber, 64, was pronounced dead at 1:56 a.m. after receiving a lethal injection at a south Alabama prison.
Alabama to carry out first lethal injection since review of execution procedures
James Barber is scheduled to be put to death Thursday evening at a south Alabama prison. Gov. Kay Ivey paused executions in November to conduct an internal review.
Former governor says Alabama’s approach to the death penalty should shock the conscience
Don Siegelman served as both Attorney General and Governor in Alabama. He says he’s come to believe that the state’s approach to the death penalty is flawed.
After botched executions, Alabama will try lethal injection again
Alabama paused executions for three months after the state failed to execute two men and took more than three hours to kill another man. Now, after an internal review and a rule change, prison officials will resume the procedure.
Alabama governor says state will resume executions
The governor in November directed the state prison system to undertake a “top-to-bottom” review of death penalty procedures after the state was forced to cancel three lethal injections because of problems with intravenous lines.
Alabama extends time for executions, ends automatic review
The Alabama Supreme Court abolished the one-day time frame for executions. Instead, the governor will set a window of time. The court also eliminated an automatic “plain error review” of death penalty cases.
Gov. Kay Ivey wants to give the state more time to carry out executions
Under Ivey’s proposal, the state corrections commissioner could immediately designate a new execution date if a delay prevents the state from carrying out an execution on the original date listed on the death warrant.
Attorney General says the execution review should happen quickly, that there is ‘no moratorium’
Last month, Gov. Kay Ivey asked Attorney General Steve Marshall not to seek additional execution dates for any other death row inmates until a review is complete.
Advocates hope Alabama’s execution moratorium leads to change but say the blame is misplaced
Equal Justice Initiative Director Bryan Stevenson says Alabama’s failed executions were “shocking, torturous conduct that provided justice to no one.”
Judge dismisses lawsuit over upcoming lethal injection in Alabama
The judge on Sunday granted Alabama's request to dismiss the lawsuit brought by Kenneth Eugene Smith, agreeing that Smith waited too long to file the challenge. But the judge also warned Alabama's prison commissioner to strictly follow established protocol when officials attempt to put Smith to death next month.
Alabama halts execution because of time, IV access concerns
Officials said the state halted the scheduled execution of Alan Miller after they determined they could not get the lethal injection underway before a midnight deadline.
Judge blocks upcoming lethal injection in Alabama
The judge issued a preliminary injunction to block the state from executing Alan Miller on Thursday by any method other than nitrogen hypoxia, an untested method Miller says he requested but Alabama is not ready to use.
Alabama could use nitrogen hypoxia for executions in death sentences. What is it?
The state approved the method in 2018, but it has not yet been used or tested. A man awaiting a Sep. 22 execution said he opted for nitrogen hypoxia instead of lethal injection due to a fear of needles, but corrections officers lost his paperwork.
Alabama man’s execution was botched, advocacy group alleges
Alabama corrections officials apparently botched an inmate's execution last month, an anti-death penalty group alleges, citing the length of time that passed before the prisoner received the lethal injection and a private autopsy indicating his arm may have been cut to find a vein.
Alabama execution is set despite opposition from the victim’s family
Joe Nathan James Jr. was convicted and sentenced to death in the 1994 shooting death of Faith Hall in Birmingham. Hall’s daughters have said they would rather James serve life in prison.
Supreme Court Orders Documents Unsealed In Death Penalty Case
The U.S. Supreme Court ordered documents unsealed Monday in a death penalty case out of Alabama after a motion was filed by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and NPR.
Attorney: Death Row Inmate’s Injuries Worse Than Expected
Attorney Bernard Harcourt, lawyer for Alabama death row inmate Doyle Lee Hamm, says Hamm’s injuries following Thursday’s botched execution were worse than expected.
Giving Juries The Last Word On The Death Sentence
In Alabama, nearly 1 in 5 people on death row were sentenced to death through judicial override, according to the Equal Justice Initiative. Judicial override allows judges to impose the death penalty after a jury returns a life verdict, and Alabama is the last state to allow it. Critics have called override unreliable and arbitrary. Now there's a bipartisan effort in the legislature that could abolish the procedure.
Alabama Senate Votes to End Judicial Override
Alabama is the only state left allowing judicial override. That’s where elected judges can overrule a jury verdict of life to impose a death sentence. But that might come to an end. This week, the Alabama Senate passed a bill that would prohibit the practice. WBHM’s Gigi Douban talked with Don Dailey of Alabama Public […]
Attorney General: Alabama Death Penalty Law “Constitutional”
The U.S. Supreme Court is refusing to hear arguments in a case involving Alabama’s death penalty sentencing scheme.
