US Supreme Court Rejects Alabama's Request to Execute Inmate via Nitrogen Gas
The United States Supreme Court has turned down an emergency appeal from Alabama to proceed with the execution of death row inmate Jeffery Lee using nitrogen gas.
The decision was made on Thursday just hours before the 49-year-old was scheduled to be put to death. It follows back-to-back rulings from lower courts that blocked the state's nitrogen hypoxia protocol, determining that it likely breaches the US Constitution's Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
The Controversy Over Nitrogen Hypoxia
The method forces an inmate to breathe 100% nitrogen through an industrial-grade mask until they suffocate from a lack of oxygen. While state officials have argued the process is quick, humane, and painless, opponents and medical groups like the American Thoracic Society have condemned it as torturous.
Alabama has used nitrogen gas to execute seven people since introducing it, while Louisiana has used it once. Though state authorities have defended those procedures as textbook, witnesses inside the death chamber have painted a far more violent picture. Eyewitnesses described seeing inmates thrash, heave, shudder, and struggle against their restraints while gasping for air. During the most recent nitrogen execution, it took 30 minutes for the inmate to be declared dead.
Reverend Jeff Hood, a spiritual adviser who has been present inside the chamber for two nitrogen executions, praised the courts for listening to firsthand accounts of the suffering. "This is the beginning of the end of the most horrific execution method this country has ever devised," Hood said.
The Case of Jeffery Lee
Lee has spent over two decades on death row following his conviction for the 1998 murders of Jimmy Ellis and Elaine Thompson, as well as the attempted murder of Helen King, during a pawnshop robbery.
His sentence has been a lightning rod for controversy. In 2000, a majority of the jury recommended that Lee receive life in prison without parole. However, the trial judge used a process known as "judicial override" to throw out the jury's decision and hand down a death sentence. Alabama permanently banned judicial override, but did not apply the law retroactively to inmates already on death row like Lee.
While fighting the nitrogen protocol in court, Lee had previously requested to be put to death by a firing squad, a method that is not currently legal or logistically operational in Alabama.
The high court's brief order did not offer an explanation for the ruling against execution by nitrogen gas. However, Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Neil Gorsuch noted that they did not agree with the ruling, signaling that they would have allowed the state to move forward.
The ruling represents a massive setback for Alabama, which has faced a wave of legal challenges since it became the first state to adopt the method. Despite the pause on the nitrogen protocol, Governor Kay Ivey clarified that the state can still reschedule the execution using a different method.
State officials reacted with sharp criticism. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall called the halted execution a "miscarriage of justice" for the state and the victims' loved ones, who "were prepared to witness the final act of justice be served". He added "The State is prepared to do whatever is necessary to see Mr Lee's lawful sentence carried out."
Following the Supreme Court's decision, Lee's legal team celebrated the outcome, stating that "the Constitution prevailed". They have urged Governor Ivey to step in and permanently commute his sentence, adding "Now Governor Ivey can finish what the jury started: restore the jury’s verdict of life without parole."
