Federal Judge Permanently Blocks Alabama Nitrogen Gas Execution

A federal judge on Tuesday permanently blocked Alabama from carrying out an execution by nitrogen gas, ruling that the method violates the constitutional prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. The order stops the scheduled execution of a man set for Thursday at an Alabama prison.

Alabama became the first state to use nitrogen gas for an execution in January 2024 and has faced repeated legal challenges since.

The same judge had ruled last month that the state could proceed with nitrogen gas, citing expert testimony that the sensation of air hunger would last only one to three minutes. A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed that order on June 8 and directed the lower court to consider the inmate’s preferred alternative of a firing squad.

In the new 26-page ruling, the judge stated that Alabama retains two other authorized methods—lethal injection and the electric chair—and that the inmate is not entitled to an injunction barring those options. The opinion noted that litigation is common in death-penalty cases and that the Constitution does not guarantee a painless death.

A spokesman for Alabama Attorney General Steve

Marshall said the state is appealing the decision. The case is expected to reach the U.S. Supreme Court, which has previously allowed nitrogen executions to proceed. The inmate was sentenced to death in 2000 after a jury recommended life without parole for two 1998 murders; a judge overrode that recommendation.

Alabama later ended judicial override for future cases, but the change did not apply retroactively. " — Lee Hedgepeth, journalist who witnessed the 2024 execution, via BBC Newsday. A spokeswoman for the inmate’s legal team said they had no immediate comment.

Reports of prolonged pain during the first nitrogen execution in 2024 prompted further scrutiny of the method.