Additional Coverage:
Louisiana Prepares for First Execution in 15 Years Amid Controversy
Tonight, Louisiana is scheduled to execute Jessie Hoffman, 46, marking the state’s first execution in 15 years. The method, nitrogen hypoxia, has drawn significant criticism and legal challenges.
Hoffman’s lawyers are making a last-minute appeal to the US Supreme Court to halt the execution, arguing that nitrogen hypoxia constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. They claim the method inflicts psychological suffering, including terror and mental anguish, and interferes with Hoffman’s Buddhist faith by preventing meditative breathing in his final moments.
Hoffman has been on death row for 27 years after his conviction in the 1996 rape and murder of 28-year-old Mary “Molly” Elliot.
The execution method involves suffocating the inmate by replacing oxygen with nitrogen. This practice has been condemned by the UN as cruel.
Ironically, Louisiana state law prohibits this same method for euthanizing cats and dogs, requiring sedation beforehand, a standard upheld by the American Veterinary Medical Association. Veterinarian Lee Capone, who campaigned against gassing animals, described the method as “horrific” and noted the visible signs of distress it causes.
Nitrogen hypoxia has been used in four US executions to date, all marked by reports of prisoner distress. Observers noted violent thrashing, writhing, convulsions, and desperate struggles against restraints. One execution reportedly took approximately 25 minutes.