Kenneth Eugene Smith’s execution would be the nation’s first using nitrogen gas.

Lawyers for a spiritual adviser to an Alabama inmate scheduled to be executed with nitrogen gas next month said in a complaint filed Wednesday that restrictions on how close the adviser can get to the inmate in the death chamber are “hostile to religion.”

The Rev. Jeff Hood, who plans to enter the death chamber to minister to Kenneth Eugene Smith, said the Alabama Department of Corrections asked him to sign a form acknowledging the risks and agreeing to stay 3 feet (0.9 meters) away from Smith’s gas mask. Hood, a death penalty opponent, said that shows there is a risk to witnesses attending the execution. He said the restrictions would also interfere with his ability to minister to Smith before he is put to death.

“They’ve asked me to sign a waiver, which to me speaks to the fact that they’re already concerned that things could go wrong,” Hood said in a telephone interview.

Smith’s execution would be the nation’s first using nitrogen gas. The nitrogen is planned be administered through the gas mask placed over Smith’s nose and mouth while he is strapped to a gurney in the death chamber normally used for lethal injections.

  • @kerrigan778
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    611 months ago

    Your family would rather have you.

    • @afraid_of_zombies
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      1011 months ago

      Maybe so but I am not going to spend years rotting from bed sores while some underpaid staff punish me for complaining by leaving my diaper on.

      My wife is a nurse and quit her old employer the night she had to give a statement to the police about how one of the aids beat a dementia patient out of revenge . Who was a different CNA one that quite literally walked over a patient who had fallen out of bed because “it is my lunch break”.

      Nope. Not doing it. I gave up almost everything for my family they don’t have the right to demand that I cling to a life with zero quality.

      • @kerrigan778
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        11 months ago

        My dad is dying of dementia right now, not saying you have to ride that out. I’m saying you owe yourself and your family the time between retirement and sharp decline.

        • @afraid_of_zombies
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          511 months ago

          I am sorry you are enduring that and frankly I don’t want to argue about my last wishes with someone who is enduring the misery you must be. No offense but I enjoy looking at myself in the mirror.

          Be well, your point is taken and I will consider it.

          • @kerrigan778
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            11 months ago

            Again, I would understand if someone wanted to end it before serious decline set in. Just not just in case before retirement to get my family some money. Because again, if there’s real quality time to be had with someone who’s still definitely your father/husband as opposed to a shell with a bit of them left inside. Then they’d rather have that than the money. I wouldn’t judge anyone for sparing themselves that latter stage though, I have no idea what I will do if that choice comes to me.