Kenneth Smith ‘struggled for life’ for 22 minutes in Alabama nitrogen gas execution: Updates

some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org to News@lemmy.world – 708 points –
Kenneth Smith ‘struggled for life’ for 22 minutes in nitrogen gas execution: Updates
independent.co.uk

“Kenny just began to gasp for air repeatedly and the execution took about 25 minutes total.”

Pretty compassionate way to kill a person.

Once again, the Law in the south is brutal.

548

You are viewing a single comment

Precisely. They apparently either felt it was fine to cut corners, do not fully understand how nitrogen hypoxia actually works, or a little bit of suffering was intentionally part of the process because it still is Alabama after all.....

Was gonna say, in Alabama you could give them a step by step guide and they'd take shortcuts.

You're assuming they could read the steps in the first place. That guide better include pictures!

little bit of suffering was intentionally part of the process

Of course it was. They also didn't want to use nitrogen, as there is no awareness at all if done correctly. The drugs they use with lethal injection likely induce panic and pain because they do not induce unconsciousness before it.

Executions have never been intended to be humane. They are punishment, vindication for the wronged. A childish obsession with a horrible misunderstanding of justice.

The big, really big issue, and I hate to say it. Is that, depending on the jurisdiction and laws in place, executions cannot be done by professionals. Most of the people who would know how to do it properly, medics, nurses, engineers, are ethically banned from participating or facilitating executions. Not that this stops them all from participating, and in some contexts some do, but on the general, executions on the USA are performed by completely incompetent individuals.

The more reason to just not fucking do them in the first place. How did they botched it using a mask when almost every single expert on medically assisted death recommends at least a sealed hood.

The people with the most experience with nitrogen suffocation are scientists working with animals. It's the current best ethical euthanasia method.

The exit bag uses nitrogen suffocation as a suicide method. It's a bag that encloses the person's head. If they felt a mask could have been used, they would have