Attorneys for Kenneth Eugene Smith, 58, filed an amended lawsuit challenging the proposed new execution method as a potential violation of the Constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment. They asked a federal judge to issue a preliminary injunction to block the execution from going forward next year.

“There is sparse research on how long a human must be exposed to 100% pure nitrogen to cause death, what happens if a human is exposed to less than 100% pure nitrogen for a prolonged period of time, or on the pain or sensations that a human exposed to nitrogen might experience,” his attorneys wrote in the amended lawsuit filed Monday.

They noted in the filing that the American Veterinary Medical Association wrote in 2020 euthanasia guidelines that nitrogen hypoxia is an acceptable method of euthanasia for pigs but not other mammals because it could create an “anoxic environment that is distressing for some species.”

  • TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Nitrogen asphyxiation has been a favoured method with the euthanasia crowd for a while now. I’m against the death penalty, but it would be one of my top three preferred ways out if I was given the choice.

    What are your other two?

      • Etterra@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Nitrogen is a good pick, though personally if I could pick anything it would be a double barrel point blank to the face. Partially because it’s instantaneous, but mostly just to traumatize the executioner as I look him in the eye. I may not be evil, but I never said I was a good person.

    • Affidavit@aussie.zone
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      1 year ago

      I would like to be told that, “You’re free to go, we’ve decided not to execute you”, then spend the next day joyfully celebrating on rides at Disneyland, followed by being shot in the head by a professional hitman without my knowledge. If I have to be executed, at least I can die happy… Shame about spraying my blood over all those kids at Disneyland though.

    • hglman
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      1 year ago

      Being exploded, your nerves can’t act fast enough to notice. A high explosive attached to your head would be painless.

        • WhatAmLemmy@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          I’ve always thought a rocket-sled, where you are strapped on like superman, and accelerated head first into a concrete wall, would be a pretty fun suicide.

          It’s like a rollercoaster that ends in blank

      • kool_newt@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        Ya, I want to be “vanquished” like I was whipped by Simon, it seems quick and painless.

      • workerONE@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        That sounds simpler than my idea of firing squad with thousands of rifles could by a computer

        • finestnothing@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Fun fact! Inmates have stayed alive and conscious for over 10 seconds after being shot by the firing squad, it’s an extremely painful, violent, and bloody execution method! A lot of the pain can come from shattered bones and spinal column damage which gets to your brain before shock and/or death can set in

    • rockSlayer@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I don’t believe it’s ever been a serious proposal, but I’d be ok with the rollercoaster of death

    • mommykink@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      NTA but my top three would be

      hypoxia via inert gas

      firing squad

      hanging

      The humiliation of spending my last few minutes on Earth strapped to a chair while my body is chemically forced to fall asleep and my muscles and heart stop is too dehumanizing and is a punishment in itself to me.

      • hglman
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        1 year ago

        Mine would have explosives strapped to my head. You would not exist long before any pain could be registered.