A federal judge has issued a ruling preventing Alabama from executing an inmate using nitrogen gas, stating that this method violates the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. U.S. District Judge Emily Marks ordered that the Alabama Department of Corrections is permanently barred from using nitrogen hypoxia as a method of execution. This decision follows the case of Jeffery Lee, who was convicted of two counts of murder during a robbery and had requested to be executed by firing squad instead of nitrogen hypoxia.
Alabama is one of five states where execution by nitrogen gas is legal, alongside Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Oklahoma. The state was the first to authorize this method, which was previously upheld by the Supreme Court in 2024. Judge Marks had previously ruled against nitrogen gas execution, and her latest ruling comes after an appeals court reversed her initial decision.
In her opinion, Marks stated that Lee demonstrated that execution by firing squad is feasible and significantly reduces the risk of serious harm compared to nitrogen hypoxia. Currently, Alabama employs nitrogen hypoxia, lethal injection, and electrocution as methods of capital punishment, with the option to use other methods at the discretion of the Commissioner of the Department of Corrections. Lee's proposal for a firing squad was noted by Marks as a viable alternative that reduces the risk of severe pain.
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall has appealed Marks's ruling, which may prompt the Supreme Court to review the legality of nitrogen hypoxia executions, a method the court has previously permitted in other cases.
