CRIME & LAW

Supreme Court Allows Execution Amid Nitrogen Dissent

Three liberal justices issued a striking dissent over nitrogen hypoxia, saying the method inflicts “psychological terror” and “excruciating suffocation” that likely violates the Eighth Amendment. Justice Sonia Sotomayor, joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, urged Americans to start a stopwatch and imagine minutes of suffocation. The dissent came as the Supreme Court declined to halt Anthony Boyd’s Alabama execution; he was put to death later Thursday. Sotomayor wrote nitrogen gas has taken two to seven minutes to cause unconsciousness. Alabama and Louisiana have used the method in seven executions; Boyd had sought a firing squad.

Reviewed by JQJO team

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