Judge Rules Nitrogen Gas Executions Not Unconstitutional

A federal judge has ruled that execution by nitrogen gas does not violate the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment, clearing the way for Alabama and other states to continue using the method. The decision, issued Thursday by U.S. District Judge Emily C. Marks, came after the first bench trial in the country to examine the constitutionality of nitrogen hypoxia as an execution method.

The lawsuit was filed last year by death row inmate Jeffery Lee, who is scheduled to be executed with nitrogen gas on June 11 at a south Alabama prison. In her ruling, Judge Marks wrote that while Lee established the method involves some suffering, he failed to show it rises to the level of a constitutional violation under the Eighth Amendment. The judge noted the evidence indicates Alabama's protocol likely causes severe air hunger, described as the most severe form of breathing discomfort, for one to three minutes.

The execution method, first used in 2024, involves placing a respirator over a person's face and replacing breathable air with pure nitrogen gas, causing death from lack of oxygen. To date, the method has been used to execute eight people, seven in Alabama and one in Louisiana.