Alan Miller shook and trembled on gurney after becoming second person to be executed by controversial technique
Alabama has carried out the second execution in the US using the controversial method of nitrogen gas, an experimental technique for humans that veterinarians have deemed unacceptable in the US and Europe for the euthanasia of most animals.
Alan Eugene Miller, 59, was pronounced dead on Thursday evening at a south Alabama prison. The lethal method involves being strapped to a gurney, where a respirator mask is applied to the face and pure nitrogen piped in. The resulting oxygen deprivation will cause death by asphyxia.
Miller shook and trembled on the gurney for about two minutes with his body at times pulling against the restraints, followed by about six minutes of gasping breathing, according to the Associated Press.
Miller’s death is the latest in an extraordinary week in the US in which five condemned men in five states are set to be killed over six days. Three prisoners have already been executed – on Friday South Carolina killed Khalil Divine Black Sun Allah in its first execution in 13 years, then on Tuesday Texas killed Travis Mullis and Missouri put to death Marcellus Williams.
Nitrogen asphyxiation may not be unpleasant, but being executed certainly causes duress.
If the method of execution takes 8 minutes, and makes you “loopy” during that time, while contemplating your impending death, then that’s cruel in my opinion.
In my opinion, if you’re going to execute someone then brevity and certainty must surely be required to make it humane.
Imagine them hanging you upside down trying to find a vein for legal injection and being unable to do so for 2 hours. A firing squad would be better in many ways.
Firstly, death causes twitching. And it’s not fucking pretty. Most animals, humans included, have a very wide array of stuff that their body does even after they are fully unconscious. It’s not at all surprising that bystanders were freaked out, even in ideal circumstances.
You should really look into apoxia. When done right (and I’m not arguing that the execution in the article was done right), it’s a minute, maybe two. And that’s probably less time than you’d spend on a firing line.
The reality is that there simply is no “perfect” way to kill someone who doesn’t want to die. We could give them a choice, possibly, but will they even choose?
Nitrogen asphyxiation, done right, is humane. There is no pain. But one way or the other, the person’s gonna know it’s happening, no matter the method used to execute them.
Again, none of this is to condone execution as a consequence of crime. I don’t think the state is qualified to make the call.