State plans to carry out first judicial killing in 15 years on Tuesday using technique critics call inhumane

Summary

Louisiana is set to execute Jessie Hoffman by nitrogen gas on Tuesday, becoming the second state to use this method despite banning it for euthanizing cats and dogs under state law.

Lawyers argue the method constitutes cruel punishment, citing four recent Alabama executions where prisoners showed distress signs including violent shaking and convulsions.

Louisiana veterinarian Lee Capone, who helped ban animal gassing in the state, called Hoffman’s planned execution “horrific.”

A federal judge’s temporary stay was overturned Friday by the fifth circuit court. Three major nitrogen manufacturers have blocked their products from being used in executions.

  • Shiggles@sh.itjust.works
    4·
    4 days ago

    I don’t really support death row, but I did always wonder - do they ever ask the prisoners if they have a preference? I feel like I’d take the good ole’ guillotine over asphixiation.

    • Gordon Calhoun@lemmy.world
      8·
      4 days ago

      Ehhhhhhhhh, I think I’d prefer gentle asphyxiation by nitrogen or a lethal dose of morphine or sudden teleportation to the center of a star.

      • kibiz0r@midwest.socialEnglish
        4·
        4 days ago

        That’s some commitment. I gotta imagine that unsafely ejecting all peripherals puts the brain in a major panic.

      • Shiggles@sh.itjust.works
        4·
        4 days ago

        I hear barotrauma is pretty much instantaneous, hell you could even send me to go work on some undersea cables for a bit and just don’t tell me when my time’s up