For the first time in United States history, a man was executed using nitrogen gas. Alabama was the first to test this new method on January 25, 2024, and this new form of execution was first carried out against convicted murderer Kenneth Eugene Smith. Using this new method has drawn in many critics who are labeling it “cruel and unusual punishment,” which is outlined in the Eighth Amendment of the constitution. So, why this new method now? Is this cruel and unusual punishment? And, where will the death penalty go from here?
To understand the death penalty and the prevalence of this case, we must first take a look back on the history of the death penalty. The death penalty came to America with the European settlers, and according to the Death Penalty Information Center, the first recorded execution was that of Captain George Kendall in 1608.
Throughout the history of the death penalty in the United States, there have been many different methods used. These methods include hanging, electrocution, gas chambers, and lethal injection. In recent years, lethal injection has become the main method of execution, but this may change with the use of nitrogen gas.
“I feel like the usage of nitrogen gas for a method of execution is kind of unneeded because we already have efficient ways of putting people to death, this includes lethal injection and electrocution,” Dakota Ridge senior Ian Van Duursen said.
Kenneth Euguene Smith, the man executed by nitrogen gas, was never supposed to have to be executed by this new method. In November 2022, Smith was scheduled to be executed by lethal injection, but the execution was delayed when the execution team was not able to find a vein to connect the injection to before the death warrant from Alabama expired. At the beginning of this year, Alabama then decided that they would be the first in the United States to use nitrogen gas.
(Pawel Czerwinski on Unsplash)
So, is the use of nitrogen gas cruel and unusual punishment? Does the death penalty as a whole fall under cruel and unusual? This has been a longstanding argument throughout the United States, and on the federal level they have left it to the states to determine how they incorporate it or not. The Death Penalty Information Center reveals that there are 27 states that currently have the death penalty as a form of punishment. Alabama, Mississippi and Oklahoma have also approved nitrogen gas as a method of execution.
“I would say it really depends on the situation because in hindsight the death penalty does seem like cruel and unusual punishment to me, but when there are more details revealed about the person and what they have done, I think there is a gray area,” Dakota Ridge senior Kennedy Krieger said. “I do think when people have done an excessive amount of bad things in the world, sometimes the death penalty fits the crime.”
People will always argue over the morality of the death penalty, and it is becoming more and more rare in the United States. In 2023, only five states conducted executions, and seven states gave new death sentences. This is the lowest number of states that have done executions and imposed death sentences in the last 20 years. Executions are at an all time low, so it’s interesting that people are still coming up with new ways to execute people.
“I really don’t think many states are going to implement the usage of nitrogen gas as a form of execution because, to the best of my knowledge, there haven’t really been too many problems with lethal injection, so I think most states will stick with that,” Dakota Ridge senior Maryn Talyat said.
This new method was introduced as a solution to one problem surrounding lethal injection, and already two other states have picked it up. Based on the way other legislation has spread throughout the states, it would not be surprising to see this new method go to new states.
