A federal judge has halted Louisiana's first nitrogen gas execution. The state says it will appeal [View all]
Source: Associated Press
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — A federal judge has halted Louisiana’s first death row execution using nitrogen gas, which was scheduled to take place next week.
U.S. District Court Judge Shelly Dick issued a preliminary injunction on Tuesday, stopping the state from immediately moving forward with the execution, which would have been Louisiana’s first in 15 years. Attorney General Liz Murrill said the state will immediately appeal the decision.
In her ruling, Dick said the court is tasked with answering the question: “Is nitrogen hypoxia cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment?”
Dick went on to say that it is in the public’s interest to halt the execution until the matter can “be resolved at a trial on the merits” and that the injunction is especially of public interest if it prevents “the violation of constitutional rights.” She added that it is not a question of whether Jessie Hoffman Jr. will be executed, but rather how.
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By SARA CLINE
Updated 7:03 PM EDT, March 11, 2025
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/louisiana-execution-nitrogen-468b8b1d56b0f3bbb394259a35bf20f8
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