ATMORE, Ala. (AP) — Alabama's first-ever use of nitrogen gas for an execution could gain traction among other states and change how the death penalty is carried out in the United States, much like lethal injection did more than 40 years ago, according to experts on capital punishment. Oklahoma and Mississippi already have laws authorizing the use of nitrogen gas for executions, and some other states, including Nebraska, have introduced measures this year to add it as an option. “This is a chapter in a long-running story in the United States,” Sarat said. A majority of states, 29, have either abolished the death penalty or paused executions, and there were just 24 executions carried out in five U.S. states in 2023, according to Washington, D.C.-based Death Penalty Information Center. “More states have abolished the death penalty since 2007 than in any other comparable 17-year period in American history,” Sarat noted.

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Persons: — Alabama's, Steve Marshall, Kenneth Eugene Smith, ” Marshall, ”, Steven Harpe, Smith, gurney, John Q, Hamm, ” Hamm, Harpe, Justin Farris, ” Farris, “, Austin Sarat, ” Sarat, Clayton Lockett, Lockett, ” Ryan Kiesel, ” Kiesel, ” ___ Murphy Organizations: Alabama, Amherst College, Washington , D.C, American Civil Liberties Union Locations: Ala, United States, “ Alabama, Alabama, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Nebraska, Europe, U.S, Washington ,, Oklahoma City