In an effort to resume Louisiana’s death row executions that have been paused for 14 years, lawmakers on Friday advanced a bill that would add the use of nitrogen gas and electrocution as possible execution methods (article available here).
As red states add execution methods — from firing squads in Idaho to, the newest method, oxygen deprivation using nitrogen in Alabama — Louisiana is one step closer to joining the list.
After the House approved it Friday, the legislation now heads to the Senate, where Republicans hold a two-third majority, for debate and possible final passage. Louisiana’s conservative governor has signaled that he will sign it if it reaches his desk. Democrats question the legality of proposed methods and whether it constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.
In Louisiana, 58 people currently sit on death row. An execution has not occurred since 2010.
For four decades, Louisiana used the electric chair — dubbed by death row inmates as “Gruesome Gertie” — until its final execution in 1991 when the state moved to lethal injections. Today, the chair is housed at the Louisiana Prison Museum and Cultural Center.
Currently, only eight states allow for electrocution, however seven of them have lethal injection as primary method.
Supreme courts in at least two states, Georgia and Nebraska, have ruled that the use of the electric chair violates their state constitutional prohibitions against cruel and unusual punishment.