SCOTUS OKs Execution By Nitrogen Gas Because Evil
Added 2024-02-12 08:13:58 +0000 UTCEpisode 1004. "What's going wrong?" Neil Young once asked Alabama, and it's still a good question 52 years later in the wake of the unprecedented execution of Eugene Michael Smith on January 25, 2024 by nitrogen gas. Casey returns to share why learning about the death penalty made her want to be a lawyer before we review the recent history of capital punishment in the U.S. and the dangers of an originalist interpretation of a "cruel and unusual" execution. We then take a closer look at how a completely untested method of taking a human life came to be used in Alabama and find some hope for an end to state-sanctioned murder.
1. VIDEO: Spiritual advisor Jeff Hood describes the execution of Eugene Michael Smith
2. VIDEO: Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall describes Smith's execution as "textbook"
3. Bucklew v. Precythe :: 587 U.S. ___ (2019)
4. Sotomayor's dissent in Smith v. Hamm
5. Thomas and Alito's dissent in Hamm v. Smith
6. The Death Penalty in 2023: Year End Report | Death Penalty Information Center
Graphic generated by Dall-e and seemed fitting.
Comments
The Trash Question is A. Private Investigators and other Snoopers have been going through people's trash. It's not "C" because the question clearly stated that the Trashcan was on the public thoroughfare. But if it actually was on his property then this would be the correct answer. It's not D because the container was not secured and it was on the public Thoroughfare. If it was one of those secured dumpsters on his private property only to be picked up by a private trash collector then this would be the correct answer. But what i would like to know is this. What would be the legal circumstances necessary for B to be the correct answer? Explain "Probative Value of Evidence" If this is actually a thing. I'm imagining the smell of a dead body , or someone alive screaming from inside of the secured garbage can on his property may fall under that category. The Doctor who had his License revoked Question, the strongest argument is "C". the revocation was mandatory after he was found guilty in court. It clearly states that the state law requires his license to be revoked. Which means no hearing is necessary by the state medical board. The state medical board was required by state law to revoke his license. This is kind of self executing.
Dreadsen
2024-02-19 03:42:35 +0000 UTC@Matt - Just read your comment. Agreed on the mask. When pilots experience this, we just are in a big room. The mask has pure oxygen. We don't put it on until we feel we need it.
Michael Rops
2024-02-14 01:15:09 +0000 UTCIn answer to why the process for assistance in dying is so different from lethal injection: doing anaesthesia requires a doctor and it's difficult to find a doctor willing to violate their hippocratic oath by participating in a harmful procedure, so the state had to design a workaround that doesn't require an MD. This is also why it is often botched.
WiseThat
2024-02-13 21:13:44 +0000 UTCJust....horrifying.
Lydia Smith
2024-02-13 21:13:21 +0000 UTCFair point, I guess panic and fear could negate any effect of execution method since it isn’t forced calm by drugs or the like. I hate that this is topic is swimming around in my head now. I’m no libertarian by any measure, but somehow I don’t feel that the judicial system, being as imperfect as it is, should be able to deny someone life. Speaking from a purely moral standpoint, it is at least conceivable that the state could make reparations for time, loss of income, etc that comes from a prison sentence. That maybe in the form of money, reform, fixing systemic mistakes made so they aren’t made again, etc, but it’s hard to pay a person back when they are dead.
Richard Stifle
2024-02-12 20:55:05 +0000 UTCI kind of alluded to this but from what I understand given the basic biology here that could absolutely be true. Forcing a mask onto a terrified person's face in a death chamber certainly doesn't seem like the way though
Matt Cameron
2024-02-12 19:17:30 +0000 UTCThe description of the death by nitrogen sounds terrifying. I’ve never thought the death penalty was a good idea. Life without parole works just as well. Thank you for doing an episode on this😢
Kameron Jackson
2024-02-12 17:12:26 +0000 UTCI’ve always heard that nitrogen execution is one of the least painful way to die, but I’m no scientist. I can see that being a myth.
Richard Stifle
2024-02-12 15:43:35 +0000 UTC
