US federal judge blocks Alabama from executing man by nitrogen gas

The lethal injection chamber at the Holman correctional facility in Atmore, Alabama, in this 2002 picture. Photograph: Dave Martin/AP View image in fullscreen The lethal injection chamber at the Holman correctional facility in Atmore, Alabama, in this 2002 picture. Photograph: Dave Martin/AP US federal judge blocks Alabama from executing man by nitrogen gas Emily C Marks finds method proposed to kill Jeffery Lee violates ban on cruel and unusual punishment A federal judge on Tuesday permanently blocked Alabama from executing a man with nitrogen gas after declaring the method violates the ban on cruel and unusual punishment. US district judge Emily C Marks issued the decision a day after an appeals court reversed her ruling that the method is constitutional. Marks permanently enjoined the state from executing Jeffery Lee by nitrogen gas. Lee was scheduled to be executed Thursday at an Alabama prison. A spokesman for Alabama attorney general Steve Marshall said the state is appealing the decision. The case will likely end up before the US supreme court, which has previously let nitrogen executions proceed. A spokeswoman for Lee’s legal team said they did not have an immediate comment. In her 26-page ruling, Marks said litigation is a constant in death penalty cases. “Were Alabama to adopt firing squad as a method of execution, that method would likely be challenged as well. Indeed, there is likely no method – no matter how humane – that would be immune to constitutional challenge. But the constitution does not guarantee a painless death, and human life cannot be purposefully extinguished without some risk of pain. The court, the condemned, and the state must all confront that sobering reality,” Marks wrote. Marks noted that the state has two other authorized execution methods: lethal injection and the electric chair. She said Lee is “not entitled to an injunction barring the state from executing him using one of those methods”. Explore more on these topics Alabama news Share Reuse this content