The European Union, the United Nations and a number of current and former United States and state officials are decrying the execution of Alabama inmate Kenneth Smith, who was put to death via nitrogen hypoxia Thursday night, the nation's first known use of the execution method.
According to CNN, Smith, 58, received a death sentence after participating in a 1988 murder for hire. In 2022, Smith remarkably survived the first attempt to execute him by lethal injection. His attorneys sought to halt the execution but lost a final appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court Thursday evening. They, alongside experts and advocates, expressed concern that nitrogen hypoxia would cause excessive pain and even constitute torture.
