MONTGOMERY, ALA. — A federal appeals court has ruled that Alabama's use of nitrogen gas for executions warrants further study to determine if it violates the constitutional prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. The ruling was issued days before a scheduled execution was set to use this nitrogen gas method.
Death row inmate Jeffery Lee, 58, filed a lawsuit challenging the nitrogen gas execution procedure. Attorneys for Lee argued that the method results in severe physical distress and had previously requested that state authorities delay setting an execution date until the legal challenge was resolved. He is scheduled to be executed at a prison in southern Alabama.
Despite the call for further study, a three-judge federal appeals court panel declined to issue a stay against Lee's planned execution. The appeals court panel also directed a lower court judge to assess the feasibility of a firing squad as an alternative execution method. A federal judge had previously ruled that the nitrogen gas execution method complies with the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
The nitrogen gas execution procedure involves securing a respirator to an inmate's face, which then replaces breathable air with pure nitrogen gas, leading to death by oxygen deprivation. Alabama first utilized this execution method in 2024. Lee was convicted of murdering two individuals during a 1998 robbery.
Across the United States, nitrogen gas has been employed in eight executions. Seven of these eight executions took place in the state. The state's most recent nitrogen gas execution lasted more than 30 minutes. One nitrogen gas execution occurred in Louisiana.