Alabama executed an inmate using nitrogen gas, marking the first time that method has been used in the US

For decades, most executions in the US have occurred via lethal injection, which traditionally involved injecting inmates with a cocktail of three lethal drugs

Yet for over a decade, suppliers of those drugs have boycotted selling them to the US, citing their opposition to the death penalty

States have since switched to using other drugs, but several of those have proven ineffective

Last May, following a series of botched lethal injections, Alabama’s Supreme Court ruled that Alabama could begin using a never-before-used execution method: Nitrogen hypoxia

Under nitrogen hypoxia, an inmate would be forced to breathe pure nitrogen until they die

Alabama officials called it “perhaps the most humane method of execution ever devised,” saying it would cause a painless death; critics claimed it was untried and could cause inmates suffering

Alabama scheduled the first such execution to be used against Kenneth Smith, an inmate sentenced to death for the 1988 murder-for-hire of a pastor’s wife

The state tried to execute him by injection in 2022 but aborted that after failing to find a vein

For months, Smith’s lawyers have filed a series of petitions requesting his execution be called off, modified, or delayed

Among other things, they argued nitrogen hypoxia is untested; that it could cause Smith considerable suffering; and that his execution would amount to “cruel and unusual” punishment, violating the Eighth Amendment of the US Constitution

The case made its way to the US Supreme Court (SCOTUS), which ruled against his appeals

On Wednesday, a federal appeals court voted 2-1 to allow the execution to go forward, prompting state officials to schedule his execution for Thursday evening

SCOTUS then denied a final appeal by Smith’s lawyers, with all liberal justices dissenting

State officials went forward with the execution and declared Smith dead at 8:25 PM local time

A state corrections official said afterward that Smith exhibited some "involuntary movement" during his execution, although "nothing was out of the ordinary"

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