A proposal to allow executions using nitrogen gas has cleared the Arkansas Legislature.
House Bill 1489 now heads to Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders. If signed into law, Arkansas would become the fourth state in the U.S. – joining Alabama, Oklahoma and Mississippi – to allow executions by nitrogen hypoxia.
The bill’s co-sponsor Sen. Blake Johnson, R-Corning, introduced it on the Senate floor Tuesday.
“These are the worst of the worst in our society, and they have [gone] through the judicial system and many of them have been on death row for 20 and 30 years,” Johnson said. “We have a responsibility to those who are on death row and the citizens we serve to take this seriously and to administer this penalty.”
Executions have been on hold in Arkansas since 2017 after the state’s supply of lethal injection drugs expired. Drug companies have denied to provide drugs to states for the purpose of executions, leading states to look toward a work-around.
Sen. Greg Leding, D-Fayetteville, spoke against the bill on the Senate floor, saying the odorless and colorless nature of nitrogen gas could lead prison staff to be inadvertently exposed during executions.
“I don’t know that there’s a humane way to take a person’s life, but if we are going to take on this responsibility, I don’t believe we can do it carelessly… we can’t just reach for what’s most convenient,” Leding said. “Our response to a horrific act of violence cannot be a horrific act of violence. It doesn’t make us tough. It doesn’t make us just.”
The bill passed the Senate on a vote of 26 to 9, with Republican Sens. Justin Boyd, Jonathan Dismang and Clint Penzo joining Democrats in voting against it. Alabama is the only state in the U.S. so far to have carried out executions using nitrogen gas, leading to widespread criticism and condemnation by the United Nations.
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