Alabama suffocated a man to death in a gas chamber tonight after starving him so he wouldn't choke on his own vomit as they did it. And this was deemed perfectly legal by multiple courts in the vaunted American legal system.
That's what happens when you value institutions over people.
Link for more info: https://www.reuters.com/...
And the reason that works is that your body doesn't actually detect low oxygen. When you hold your breath for a long time, the sensation comes from high CO2 levels. That's one reason that working in a hydrogen or helium airship is dangerous, because there can be a leak and you won't even notice until passing out.
Also he specifically requested that they used nitrogen over other methods.
He later changed his request to death by firing squad, but I suspect that may have been a delaying tactic rather than an actual preference.
If fentanyl is so cheap, available, and deadly, why don’t they just use that? Probably because they want their pound of flesh.
He just fell asleep.
eyewitness accounts disagree
"Smith’s spiritual adviser, the Rev. Jeff Hood, who’d previously expressed concern that the method could be inhumane, witnessed the execution and described it in more graphic terms, saying it was 'the most horrible thing I’ve ever seen.'
Smith, wearing a tight-fitting mask that covered his entire face, convulsed when the gas was turned on, 'popped up on the gurney' repeatedly, and gasped, heaved and spat, Hood said.
'It was absolutely horrific,' he said."
"Smith, who was on a gurney, appeared conscious for “several minutes into the execution,” and “shook and writhed” for about two minutes after that, media witnesses said in a joint report."
Witnesses described writhing:
Smith appeared to remain conscious for several minutes after the nitrogen was activated, according to five journalists who were allowed to watch the execution through glass as media witnesses. Although the mask was also secured to the gurney, he then began shaking his head and writhing for about two minutes, and then could be seen breathing deeply for several minutes before his breathing slowed and became imperceptible, the witnesses said.
They think he was holding his breath, so the CO2 concentration in his blood would have risen. Between the CO2 build up and just knowing you are about to be killed, it's not surprising he started panicking and writhing.
That's what people miss when touting nitrogen asphyxiation as humane. It's only humane if the person being killed willingly gives themselves over to the process and takes nice deep breaths. If they're not willing to die of course they're still going to resist to the best of their abilities and try and get the mask off.
At least part of that was attributed to him holding his breath for as long as possible once they started administrating the gas.
"Writhing" (or maybe just convulsions that looked like writhing considering the restraints) after he no longer appeared to be conscious. NAD but my guess is this was a hypoxic seizure, an event of which he couldn't possibly have been aware.
Edit: Assuming I'm right, and if we ever get to the point where this is proven to be a "humane" form of execution, then the convulsions could reasonably be prevented with muscle relaxing drugs the same way they're are prevented during surgery or lethal injection... But I'd rather we just get to the point where we see the whole concept of retributive justice as inhumane.
Also leaving out the fact that the executed and his lawyer both said this method was preferential to lethal injection.
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He wasn't "starved", it says right there in the article that he was given his last meal this morning (Thursday) and allowed no solids after 10am because he suffered from nausea and was worried he'd vomit.
It's okay to be anti-execution but you don't have to make shit up to be inflammatory, there's plenty of other valid reasons to be against execution but making sure a man doesn't choke on his own vomit isn't one of them.
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