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Justice

Alabama Judge Approves a New Execution Protocol Described by Some Critics as Cruel, Unusual, and Unconstitutional

While proponents of nitrogen gas executions say it’s just like falling asleep, capital punishment opponents contend that its use warrants an appeal to the Supreme Court.

AP/Dave Martin
Alabama's lethal injection chamber at the Holman Correctional Facility at Atmore, Alabama. AP/Dave Martin
M.J. KOCH
M.J. KOCH

Alabama will allow America’s first nitrogen gas execution of a convicted murderer, Kenneth Eugene Smith, even as debate becomes heated regarding the constitutionality of the new, untested method of capital punishment. 

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M.J. KOCH
M.J. KOCH

Ms. Koch graduated in 2023 from Harvard College, where she was the editor-in-chief of the student weekly, the Harvard Independent. She reports on issues of higher education and foreign policy at The New York Sun.

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