A ruling from a federal judge in Montgomery, Alabama, has permanently halted the state’s plan to execute an inmate using nitrogen gas, citing it as a violation of the constitutional prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment.
U.S. District Judge Emily Marks made this decision shortly after an appeals court overturned her previous judgment, which had deemed the method constitutional. The ruling prevents Alabama from executing Jeffrey Lee, 49, with nitrogen gas, just ahead of his scheduled execution on Thursday.
This judgment temporarily suspends the implementation of this contentious execution technique, which Alabama has supported since 2024. The issue is expected to ultimately reach the U.S. Supreme Court for further deliberation.
While a spokesperson for Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall mentioned that the state is assessing the ruling and contemplating further actions such as an appeal, no immediate response was given by Lee’s legal representatives.
The decision has been praised by both death penalty opponents and critics of nitrogen gas as an execution method.
Death penalty opponents and critics of the nitrogen method welcomed the decision.
“The truth is finally free. Two federal courts have now called nitrogen executions what they are…completely unnecessary,” the Rev. Jeff Hood said.
Hood was a spiritual advisor at two nitrogen executions.
“Indeed, I pray that we are witnessing the collapse of this horrific method nationwide,” Hood added.
In her 26-page ruling, Marks said litigation is a constant in death penalty cases.
“Were Alabama to adopt firing squad as a method of execution, that method would likely be challenged as well. Indeed, there is likely no method – no matter how humane – that would be immune to constitutional challenge. But the Constitution does not guarantee a painless death, and human life cannot be purposefully extinguished without some risk of pain. The Court, the condemned, and the State must all confront that sobering reality,” Marks wrote.
Marks noted that the state has two other authorized execution methods, lethal injection and the electric chair. She said Lee is “not entitled to an injunction barring the State from executing him using one of those methods.”
Marks also ruled that the state could switch to Lee’s preferred method, a firing squad. Inmates challenging execution methods are required to suggest an alternative method.
“The State can readily obtain rifles, ammunition, and other materials necessary to carry out a firing squad execution. Additionally, the State would be able to modify space at Holman to carry out executions by firing squad. The State is also able to source and train volunteers willing to carry out such an execution,” Marks wrote.
Lee is currently housed at Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore. He was convicted of two counts of capital murder for killing Jimmy Ellis and Elaine Thompson while robbing a pawnshop on Dec. 12, 1998. Prosecutors said Lee entered Jimmy’s Pawnshop with a sawed-off shotgun and shot Ellis, the owner of the store, and Thompson, a store employee.
A jury voted 7-5 that Lee should receive a sentence of life imprisonment. However, a judge overrode that recommendation and sentenced Lee to death. Alabama in 2017 ended the practice of judicial override and no longer allows a judge to disregard a jury’s sentencing decision in death penalty cases.
The video in the player above is from an earlier report.
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