UMVA has learned that a federal judge has permanently blocked Alabama from executing death row inmate Jeffrey Lee using nitrogen gas, citing a violation of the U.S. Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
The ruling, handed down by U.S. District Judge Emily C. Marks, comes after an appeals court reversed her initial finding that the controversial execution method was constitutional. Lee, 49, was scheduled to be put to death on Thursday.
According to information obtained by UMVA, the judge wrote that the appeals court found the method carried "a substantial risk of serious harm." A three-judge panel had expressed concerns about the three minutes it could take for an inmate to lose awareness, calling it an "intolerable" time frame.
The judge's order permanently bars the state from using nitrogen gas to execute Lee, but allows the state to change the form of execution to Lee's preferred method - a firing squad. Inmates challenging execution methods must suggest an alternative method.
Marks' ruling blocks only the state from executing Lee by nitrogen gas, leaving open the possibility of execution by lethal injection or the electric chair. The state has two other authorized execution methods.
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall's office is appealing the decision, according to a new court filing. Alabama officials have maintained that the method is constitutional, setting the stage for a potential showdown at the U.S. Supreme Court.
The issue appears likely bound for the nation's highest court, which has never ruled a state's execution method to be unconstitutional. The Constitution does not guarantee a painless death, and human life cannot be extinguished without some risk of pain.
Alabama began using nitrogen gas for executions in January 2024, when convicted killer Kenneth Eugene Smith became the first person in the country to be executed using that method. The execution method has been criticized by opponents as inhumane and torturous.
Critics of the death penalty and the execution method have praised Marks' ruling, with one spiritual adviser saying it could mark the beginning of the end for the "horrific method nationwide."
Lee is being held at Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore for his conviction of two counts of capital murder. A jury had voted 7-5 that Lee should be sentenced to life imprisonment, but a judge overrode that recommendation and sentenced him to death.
