Key Facts

• Jeffery Lee, 49, is scheduled for execution by nitrogen gas in Alabama on Thursday at 6 p.m.
• A federal judge ruled that nitrogen gas executions violate the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
• Alabama appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the ruling and allow the execution to proceed.
• The Supreme Court has never before ruled that a state’s execution method is unconstitutional.
• Nitrogen gas execution involves replacing the oxygen someone breathes with pure nitrogen, causing death by oxygen deprivation.
• This method has been used in eight executions in the U.S., including seven in Alabama and one in Louisiana.
• The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the judge’s ruling and denied Alabama’s request to pause it.
• The court found the time it takes to lose consciousness with nitrogen gas could cause unacceptable suffering.