A federal judge has delivered a striking blow to the nitrogen gas execution method, ruling that Alabama cannot put a death row inmate to death using nitrogen hypoxia. In a notable reversal of her own earlier opinion, the judge concluded that the controversial and relatively new technique amounts to unconstitutionally cruel punishment.

The decision, handed down Tuesday, permanently bars Alabama from executing 49-year-old Jeffrey Lee with nitrogen gas, halting a process the state had planned to carry out within days.

A Last-Minute Reprieve

Lee had been scheduled to die by nitrogen hypoxia on Thursday. The method forces a condemned inmate to breathe pure nitrogen through a gas mask until the lack of oxygen causes suffocation.

He has spent more than two decades on Alabama’s death row following his conviction for a 1998 double murder. According to prosecutors and court filings, Lee fatally shot store owner Jimmy Ellis and employee Elaine Thompson during an attempted robbery of the establishment.

The Court’s Reasoning

U.S. District Judge Emily Marks found that Alabama’s nitrogen gas protocol violates the Eighth Amendment’s protection against cruel and unusual punishment. Her ruling followed an appeals court decision on Monday that overturned her earlier finding, in which she had concluded the method was constitutional.

Citing the appeals court’s opinion, Marks wrote that Lee had shown by a preponderance of the evidence that the protocol constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.

Evidence of Suffering

The ruling drew on testimony from an April bench trial, the first proceeding to directly weigh the constitutionality of Alabama’s nitrogen hypoxia protocol. After hearing from both expert and lay witnesses, the court determined that inmates executed this way likely endure severe air hunger along with emotional distress, anxiety, physiological stress, and physical discomfort for at least one to three minutes before asphyxiation sets in.

The opinion described the danger in unambiguous terms, stating that the risk of serious harm was substantial rather than speculative or doubtful. Counting through 60 or 180 seconds, the court noted, is no quick exercise, and that span of suffering was deemed constitutionally intolerable.

A Rare Victory for Inmates

Marks’ decision represents a turning point in a long line of capital punishment challenges that have repeatedly surfaced in Alabama since the state began using nitrogen hypoxia in 2024. Such challenges are notoriously difficult to win.

To prove an execution method violates the Eighth Amendment, the Supreme Court requires inmates to show that the specific method poses a substantial risk of severe pain. They must also propose a reasonable alternative the state could use instead. Meeting that dual burden has long frustrated inmates and their attorneys.

Firing Squad as the Proposed Alternative

Lee satisfied that requirement by proposing execution by firing squad. Marks agreed it was a viable option, describing it as feasible, readily implemented, and significantly less likely to cause serious harm.

The proposal raises a complication, however. Alabama law does not technically authorize firing squads. The state permits death sentences to be carried out by lethal injection, nitrogen hypoxia, or, under certain circumstances, electrocution. Even so, Marks noted that the state had failed to offer any legitimate penological reason for refusing to adopt the firing squad as an alternative.

The State Plans to Appeal

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall’s office intends to challenge the ruling, according to court filings. The state has consistently rejected critics’ concerns, maintaining that its nitrogen gas protocol does not cause cruel or unusual suffering.

Had the execution proceeded, Lee would have become the ninth person executed by nitrogen hypoxia in the United States and the eighth in Alabama. Louisiana has carried out one such execution as well. Several other states permit the method but have never actually used it.

Headed Toward the Supreme Court

The constitutionality of Alabama’s nitrogen gas protocol now appears likely to reach the U.S. Supreme Court, which has never found any method of capital punishment unconstitutional. The high court has also never issued a specific ruling on nitrogen gas executions.

Robin Maher, director of the Death Penalty Information Center, told CBS News that Marks’ decision carries significance on its own and could influence developments well beyond Alabama. She emphasized that this marks the first time a federal court has recognized the harm and suffering caused by suffocating prisoners with nitrogen gas as unconstitutional, a point she called especially meaningful as other states consider adopting the method.

Mounting Criticism of the Method

While the Death Penalty Information Center takes no position on capital punishment itself, numerous global human rights experts have condemned nitrogen gas executions as experimental and potentially torturous. Witnesses to the eight executions carried out this way have reported that the condemned appeared to show signs of distress, and possibly suffering, before losing consciousness.

Among those witnesses is the Rev. Jeff Hood, a spiritual adviser who observed two such executions and has become an outspoken opponent of capital punishment. Responding to both Marks’ decision and the appeals court ruling, Hood praised the outcomes and expressed hope that the Supreme Court would have the courage to recognize what these courts had seen.

What Comes Next

For now, Jeffrey Lee’s execution is on hold, but the broader legal battle is far from settled. With Alabama poised to appeal and the question potentially heading to the nation’s highest court, the future of nitrogen hypoxia as an execution method hangs in the balance.

Marks’ ruling stands as a significant moment in the ongoing debate over how states carry out the death penalty, and it may shape decisions far beyond Alabama’s borders in the years to come.

This article addresses capital punishment and execution methods, a sensitive subject. If you or someone you know is affected by related issues, support resources are available.