After the grisly execution of inmate Kenneth Eugene Smith by nitrogen hypoxia in Alabama last week, it appears another state may adopt the method in an effort to resume executing inmates after lethal injection drugs became almost impossible to obtain.
THE Invoice, not yet named, was introduced Tuesday in the Ohio House of Representatives, and state Attorney General Dave Yost has already thrown his support behind it. This would allow inmates to choose between lethal injection and nitrogen hypoxia, but would require nitrogen when lethal injection drugs are not available.
The latter situation is exactly the situation Ohio has found itself in in recent years. The state hasn’t killed a death row inmate since 2018, and Republican Gov. Mike DeWine went as far as in 2020. say that lethal injection was “impossible today from a practical point of view” due to the difficulty of finding drugs.
But death from nitrogen hypoxia remains a major concern regarding the suffering of prisoners. The method, which involves placing a tight-fitting mask over the inmate’s face and slowly replacing oxygen with nitrogen, causing death by suffocation, is experimental. Smith, who was pronounced dead after about 15 minutes of breathing only nitrogen last Thursday, is believed to be the first person in the world executed in this manner. While Alabama prison officials claimed the execution went as planned, witnesses reported that Smith was “struggling against his restraints” and “trembling and writhing on a stretcher.”
The details of Smith’s death have not dampened Ohio Republicans, who appear to view the execution method as a useful way to end the state’s six-year moratorium on executions.
“Offenders convicted of the most heinous crimes and prisoners who continue to flout the law behind bars must be held accountable,” Yost said Tuesday. Press release. “The quest for justice is a journey, and closure remains difficult for the victims’ families until the sentence is fully carried out. Ensuring that the consequences match the seriousness of the offense is essential to providing comfort to grieving loved ones.
Rep. Brian Stewart (R-Ashville), who introduced the bill, echoed Yost’s comments, saying, “As long as capital punishment remains the law in Ohio, the law must be followed.” » Stewart added that “providing an additional method to apply the death penalty is necessary to ensure that Ohio can continue to impose these sentences in response to the most heinous crimes committed in our state.”
For opponents of the death penalty, many of whom view the increasing difficulty in obtaining lethal injection drugs as a sign of a possible decline in the practice in the United States, the introduction of executions by nitrogen hypoxia is disturbing news. If states follow Alabama’s lead and begin executing their death row inmates by suffocation rather than hard-to-obtain drugs, it is possible that executions could increase in coming years.