A federal judge has permanently blocked Alabama from executing death row inmate Jeffrey Lee using nitrogen gas, ruling that the method violates the U.S. Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment. U.S. District Judge Emily C. Marks issued the ruling after an appeals court reversed her earlier decision that deemed the execution method constitutional. The judge highlighted that the appeals court found the method posed a 'substantial risk of serious harm' and that the time it could take for an inmate to lose awareness is considered 'intolerable.'
Marks also stated that the state could consider changing the execution method to a firing squad, which is Lee's preferred alternative. However, she noted that the state is not required to stop executing Lee altogether, as it has other authorized methods such as lethal injection and the electric chair. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall's office is appealing the ruling, and the issue may reach the U.S. Supreme Court, which has not previously ruled any state's execution method unconstitutional.
The nitrogen gas execution method, which Alabama began using in January 2024, has faced criticism for being inhumane. Critics argue that the method could lead to prolonged suffering, with one expert stating that 'three minutes of conscious suffocation is torturous.' Lee is currently incarcerated at Holman Correctional Facility for his conviction of two counts of capital murder from a 1998 robbery.
