Alabama’s plan for nation’s first execution by nitrogen gas is ‘hostile to religion,’ lawsuit says
Kenneth Eugene Smith’s execution would be the nation’s first using nitrogen gas.
Lawyers for a spiritual adviser to an Alabama inmate scheduled to be executed with nitrogen gas next month said in a complaint filed Wednesday that restrictions on how close the adviser can get to the inmate in the death chamber are “hostile to religion.”
The Rev. Jeff Hood, who plans to enter the death chamber to minister to Kenneth Eugene Smith, said the Alabama Department of Corrections asked him to sign a form acknowledging the risks and agreeing to stay 3 feet (0.9 meters) away from Smith’s gas mask. Hood, a death penalty opponent, said that shows there is a risk to witnesses attending the execution. He said the restrictions would also interfere with his ability to minister to Smith before he is put to death.
“They’ve asked me to sign a waiver, which to me speaks to the fact that they’re already concerned that things could go wrong,” Hood said in a telephone interview.
Smith’s execution would be the nation’s first using nitrogen gas. The nitrogen is planned be administered through the gas mask placed over Smith’s nose and mouth while he is strapped to a gurney in the death chamber normally used for lethal injections.
Only the gas? Not the killing? Funny….”religion”
Hood is anti death penalty. He's using whatever argument that might work. Seems to be an alright dude really, for a Baptist preacher. Was involved in BLM in Texas and wrote a book with the statement "God is queer."
Never let facts get in the way of an edgelord ranting about an article they clearly didn't read.
The worst thing about Lemmy is it perfectly nercomanced 2010 reddit's skin-deep atheism back to life.
You can SMELL the fedora
Happy to inform you it's actually a trilby, pleb.
Not even that - it's the "risk" to witnesses. We should be able to watch people die without a care in the world, dammit!
And they praise Jesus when it's convenient but times like these they love to drive into Old Testament crap.
How this is compatible with the supposedly kind, tolerant and self sacrificing idea of Jesus?
Let he without sin push the murder gas button!