The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to halt Alabama from proceeding with the nation’s first execution using nitrogen gas to carry out the death penalty on convicted murderer Kenneth Smith, who survived a botched lethal injection in 2022 that helped prompt a review of the state’s death penalty procedures. The justices denied Smith’s request to stay his execution, which is scheduled for Thursday, and declined to hear his legal challenge contending that a second execution attempt by Alabama – after the first failed attempt caused him severe trauma – would violate the U.S. Constitution’s Eighth Amendment protections against cruel and unusual punishment.
Link: Supreme Court declines to halt first US nitrogen-gas execution in Alabama case | Reuters
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