Reverend sues Alabama prisons over nitrogen gas execution

The Rev. Jeff Hood filed a complaint on Wednesday against the Alabama Department of Corrections, alleging that execution by nitrogen gas is “hostile to religion.” Hood plans to enter the gas chamber to minister to death row inmate Kenneth Smith. Smith is scheduled to receive the first nitrogen hypoxia execution in the nation next month. Execution by nitrogen gas, however, requires bystanders to sign a waiver and stand at least three feet away during the procedure, depriving a prisoner of their right to comfort, according to Hood’s lawsuit. Hood also takes issue with the potential risks he faces in the death chamber alongside Smith, who will receive the nitrogen through a gas mask. The prison asked Hood to sign a waiver acknowledging the potential risk of a “highly unlikely event” of nitrogen gas leaking.

Don’t states vary on accommodating inmates’ last rites requests? The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year in Ramirez v. Collier that states must accommodate prisoners’ requests to be comforted by words and physical touch from an in-person spiritual adviser during their execution. The Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act also protects the religious rights of prisoners on a federal level.

Dig deeper: Read Grace Snell’s report in WORLD Magazine on prisoners freed after wrongful conviction.