Nitrogen gas death penalty bills clear OK Senate Panels.
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Oklahoma could become the first state to use nitrogen gas to execute inmates under a proposal to reinstate a method of execution that hasn't been used in the U.S. in decades but which supporters say would be painless and foolproof.
With no questions or debate, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 9-0 Tuesday to authorize "nitrogen hypoxia," which causes death by depleting the supply of oxygen in the blood, as Oklahoma's backup method of execution if lethal injection is ruled unconstitutional or if the deadly drugs become unavailable. A similar bill later passed 7-2 in a separate House panel without debate.
"It is a method that has been recognized as the most humane by those who oppose the death penalty," said Moore Republican Sen. Anthony Sykes, the chairman of the Senate committee. "It causes a very quick and sudden loss of consciousness and of life almost simultaneously."
The proposal comes as executions in Oklahoma are on hold amid a U.S. Supreme Court review of its lethal injection method. The case, which was sparked by a botched execution last spring, centers on whether the sedative midazolam properly renders an inmate unconscious before the second and third drugs are administered. Oklahoma officials concede midazolam is not the preferred drug for executions, but death penalty states have been forced to explore alternatives as manufacturers of more effective drugs refuse to sell them for use in lethal injections.
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