Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed legislation on Tuesday allowing executions using nitrogen gas, making Arkansas the fifth state to adopt this method. Supporters of the measure believe it will allow the state to resume executions for the first time in eight years. Currently, Arkansas has 25 people on death row, with the last execution taking place in 2017.
The use of nitrogen gas as a means of execution has sparked controversy, with opponents arguing that it is unconstitutional and increases suffering for the inmates. They cite witness accounts from Alabama executions where inmates reportedly gasped and shook during the process. State officials, however, claim that these movements are involuntary and a result of oxygen deprivation.
Critics of the decision to use nitrogen gas for executions, such as the American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas, view it as a regressive move that goes against national trends away from the death penalty. Arkansas has also increased secrecy surrounding its execution process, including concealing the source of lethal injection drugs.
While Arkansas is not the first state to adopt nitrogen gas as a method of execution, it joins Alabama and Louisiana in using this method. Two other states, Mississippi and Oklahoma, have laws allowing the method but have not yet implemented it. The law in Arkansas will take effect 90 days after the legislative session concludes, which is expected to be in April. Despite this development, the number of executions in the U.S. remains near historic lows, occurring in only a handful of states.
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