A federal judge on Tuesday permanently blocked Alabama from executing an inmate with nitrogen gas after declaring it violates the ban on cruel and unusual punishment. U.S. District Judge Emily Marks issued the ruling hours after an appeals court reversed her initial finding that the method was constitutional.
Background of the Case
Jeffrey Lee, 49, was scheduled to be executed by nitrogen gas on Thursday. However, Judge Marks permanently enjoined the state from executing him using this method. The decision, for now, blocks the use of the controversial new execution method that the state has championed since 2024, but the issue will likely end up before the U.S. Supreme Court.
A spokesman for Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said the state is reviewing the decision and considering next steps, including an appeal. A spokeswoman for Lee’s legal team said they did not have an immediate comment. Death penalty opponents and critics of the nitrogen method welcomed the decision.
In her 26-page ruling, Marks said litigation is a constant in death penalty cases. She noted that the state has two other authorized execution methods, lethal injection and the electric chair. She said Lee is “not entitled to an injunction barring the State from executing him using one of those methods.”
Lee is currently housed at Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore. He was convicted of two counts of capital murder for killing Jimmy Ellis and Elaine Thompson while robbing a pawnshop on Dec. 12, 1998.
Original reporting: 40/29 / KHBS (NW Arkansas) — read the source article.
