Americans Will Continue to Execute Death Row Inmates with Nitrogen 0 8

A federal court in the U.S. ruled that the use of nitrogen gas for executions does not violate the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment. The decision came after reviewing a lawsuit from Alabama inmate Jeffrey Lee, who claimed that this method of execution causes excessive suffering, CBS News reports.

The ban on "cruel and unusual punishments" is contained in the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which was ratified in 1791 along with the other sections of the Bill of Rights. It also prohibits "excessive bail" and "excessive fines."

58-year-old Lee was convicted of capital murder for a crime committed on December 12, 1998, near the town of Orrville in Alabama. According to the prosecution, Lee stormed into a local pawn shop with a sawed-off shotgun and fatally shot the store owner Jimmy Ellis and employee Elaine Thompson.

During the trial, 7 out of 12 jurors voted for a life sentence for Lee. However, the judge utilized the then-existing practice of judicial override and sentenced the inmate to death. In 2017, Alabama abandoned this practice, and judges can no longer impose the death penalty contrary to the jury's decision.

Lee is scheduled to be executed by nitrogen on June 11 at a prison in southern Alabama. This method was first implemented in the U.S. in 2024. It is permitted in five states, but has only been used in practice in two — seven times in Alabama and once in Louisiana.

The procedure involves placing a respiratory mask on the condemned person's face, through which pure nitrogen is administered. As a result, the person dies from hypoxia — a lack of oxygen.

During the proceedings, the parties debated how painful such a death is and how long inmates remain conscious. It was also discussed whether convulsions during the execution indicate suffering or are an involuntary reaction of the body. CBS News notes that the last nitrogen execution in Alabama lasted over 30 minutes.

District Judge Emily C. Marks agreed that execution by nitrogen "causes a choking sensation — the most severe form of respiratory failure — lasting from one to three minutes." However, she stated that this is not grounds for declaring the method unconstitutional.

"Although Lee was able to prove that death by nitrogen hypoxia is accompanied by suffering, he could not convince the court that this protocol constitutes cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment," Marks wrote in her ruling.

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall welcomed the court's ruling. He stated that the federal court fully examined the constitutionality of nitrogen hypoxia for the first time and concluded that this method does not violate U.S. law.

"After the first full court trial on nitrogen hypoxia, the federal district court found this method constitutional. All evidence was considered, and it was concluded that nitrogen hypoxia is not a cruel and unusual punishment. The issue of the death penalty should be decided by the people and their representatives, not by the courts," Marshall said.

The court's decision will allow Alabama and other states to continue using this method. Lee's attorneys plan to appeal the ruling.

"Given what we know about each of the existing methods of execution in Alabama and the U.S., I cannot imagine anyone voluntarily and consciously choosing asphyxiation," said Abraham Bonowitz, executive director of Death Penalty Action, an organization opposed to the death penalty.

Last month, the U.S. Department of Justice lifted the moratorium on federal executions and approved firing squads as a method of carrying out sentences. The agency also streamlined internal procedures to expedite the handling of death penalty cases.