Alabama killed Kenny

Alabama death row inmate, Kenneth Eugene Smith, forever 58, was executed tonight with nitrogen gas, and now holds the record for being the first to be put to death by this method. 

According to people who have never lost a love one to murder--I have--this method is controversial as it causes oxygen deprivation that these folks consider inhumane, kind of like how he stabbed a woman to death back in 1988.  He was pronounced dead at 8:25 p.m. or 20:25, local time at the William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore.

Prior to Smith's death sentence being carried out, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled for the second time in as many days that the state could proceed with using nitrogen hypoxia to execute Smith, refusing to block the nation’s first execution by a new method since 1982.

Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Jackson dissented as their way of virtue signaling since they have no problem with killing the unborn.

For his last meal, Smith was served steak, hash browns and eggs, the Alabama Department of Corrections said. He was visited by his adoring wife, his young son, two close friends and his loser attorney.

The execution garnered national attention because of its method, which causes the person inhaling the nitrogen gas through a mask to die from a lack of oxygen.

Smith's lawyers argued Alabama was trying to make him the "test subject" for an untried execution method after he survived the state's previous attempt to put him to death by lethal injection. At least Smith finally did something useful in his miserable life as a hired killer.

The defense also argued a second execution attempt is unconstitutional after Smith was one of three Alabama death row inmates who survived a botched lethal injection in 2022. 

The 2022 attempt, which lasted over four hours, caused Smith "severe physical pain and psychological torment, including post traumatic stress disorder," his lawyers said, much like the stabbing pain one feels while being killed by a knife.

"The application for stay of execution of sentenced of death presented to Justice (Clarence) Thomas and by him referred to the Court is denied," the court said.

In a statement before he was put to death, Smith and his minister, Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood, said: "The eyes of the world are on this impending moral apocalypse. Our prayer is that people will not turn their heads. We simply cannot normalize the suffocation of each other."

And then there's abortion.

Smith was put to death for his role in a 1988 murder-for-hire plot that killed Elizabeth Sennett. He and John Forrest Parker killed the preacher's wife for $1,000 apiece.

So rest in hell, Mister Smith.

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Alabama Supreme Court will allow new execution method for inmate who murderer

An Alabama Supreme Court comprised of all Republicans was divided Wednesday as to whether an inmate would be executed with nitrogen gas to carry out his death sentence.

Well it turns out in a 6-2 decision that this method will be allowed and Kenneth Eugene Smith will be the first to meet his Maker this way.

Although the order did not specify the execution method, the Alabama attorney general indicated in filings with the court that it intends to use nitrogen to put Smith to death. The exact date of the execution will be set later by Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey.

Smith was one of two men convicted in the 1988 murder-for-hire killing of Elizabeth Sennett in Colbert County.

Alabama, Mississippi and Oklahoma are states that had authorized nitrogen hypoxia as an execution method but Alabama will likely be the first to use it if the execution goes through. However, there will probably be further litigation over this new execution method.

"Elizabeth Sennett's family has waited an unconscionable 35 years to see justice served. Today, the Alabama Supreme Court cleared the way for Kenneth Eugene Smith to be executed by nitrogen hypoxia," Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall wrote. "Though the wait has been far too long, I am grateful that our capital litigators have nearly gotten this case to the finish line."

An attorney for Smith did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

Lawyers for Smith had urged the court to reject the execution request, perhaps because it's unsafe for Smith.

"The state seeks to make Mr. Smith the test subject for the first ever attempted execution by an untested and only recently released protocol for executing condemned people by the novel method of nitrogen hypoxia," Smith’s attorneys wrote in a September court filing.

I say whatever works.

Under the proposed method, the inmate would be forced to breathe only nitrogen, depriving them of oxygen needed to maintain bodily functions and causing them to die. Nitrogen is mixed with oxygen in our atmosphere and comprises 78% of the air we breathe. 

While some say using nitrogen to kill a scumbag like Smith would be painless, others say it might not be and he should be able to die comfortably, like the former VA Gov. Ralph Northam said, as he believes that unwanted newborns should be made to feel comfortable before the mother decides to kill him or her.

So Smith can be a ground-breaker and get his name into the history books--that would be his only good accomplishment it seems.

The state unsuccessfully attempted to put Smith to death by lethal injection last year. The Alabama Department of Corrections called off the execution when the execution team could not get the required two intravenous lines connected to Smith. But at least they did get the isopropyl alcohol to sterilize the needle to avoid infection.

Smith's attorneys previously accused the state of trying to move Smith to "the front of the line" for a nitrogen execution in order to moot Smith’s lawsuit challenging lethal injection procedures, but there was no line.

Chief Justice Tom Parker and Justice Greg Cook dissented in Wednesday's decision.

Smith was one of two scumcrumpets who were each paid $1,000 to kill Ms. Sennett on behalf of her pastor husband, who was deeply in debt and wanted to collect on insurance, for God's sake. The pastor killed himself the following week and likely never made it to the promised land.

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