Nitrogen and the Firing Squad
Every execution method in America has been introduced as the humane answer to the last. With lethal injection failing in new ways, states reached back: Alabama and Louisiana executed men with nitrogen gas, never before used on a human, South Carolina revived the firing squad, and Idaho made it the default. The federal government swung from thirteen executions to commuting nearly its whole death row. The country carried out 47 executions in 2025.
Who's who
- Kenneth SmithAlabama prisoner, first person executed by nitrogen hypoxia in 2024
- Sonia Sotomayor+3 more episodesJustice who dissented from refusals to stop nitrogen executions
- John HammCommissioner of the Alabama Department of Corrections
- Steve MarshallAlabama attorney general
- Jeff LandryLouisiana governor
- Joe Biden+4 more episodesPresident who commuted 37 of 40 federal death sentences
- Donald Trump+11 more episodesPresident who ordered restoration of the federal death penalty
- Emily MarksFederal judge who barred a nitrogen execution in Alabama
Where it happens
- Alabama+2 more episodesFirst state to execute by nitrogen hypoxia
- LouisianaExecuted a man by nitrogen in March 2025
- South Carolina+1 more episodeRevived the firing squad in 2025
- Idaho+1 more episodeFiring squad became primary method on July 1, 2026
Timeline
- November 17, 2022Alabama's lethal injection attempt on Kenneth Smith called off
- January 25, 2024Smith executed by nitrogen, a world first
- December 23, 2024Biden commutes 37 of 40 federal death sentences
- March 7, 2025South Carolina firing squad execution, first in the U.S. in fifteen years
- December 31, 2025Year ends with 47 executions, 19 in Florida
- July 1, 2026Idaho's firing-squad law takes effect
Still debated
Witnesses describe shaking and heavy breathing in nitrogen executions while Alabama's officials call the movements involuntary, and the science is not settled. Reports differ on the length of one execution, and whether bullets missed a prisoner's heart is disputed by lawyers' pathologist and state. Whether other courts will follow the 2026 ruling is open.
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