Supreme Court allows Alabama execution despite protests over nitrogen hypoxia method
The Supreme Court rejected an Alabama death row inmate’s request to halt his execution scheduled for Thursday. Anthony Boyd sought to die by firing squad rather than nitrogen hypoxia. The justices provided no explanation for their unsigned order.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote a dissent joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson. She said nitrogen hypoxia causes prolonged suffocation lasting two to four minutes. Alabama and Louisiana have executed seven people using the method since 2024.
Boyd was convicted of the 1993 kidnapping and murder of Gregory Huguley. A federal district court found insufficient evidence that alternative execution methods would reduce pain from nitrogen hypoxia. The 11th Circuit upheld that decision before Boyd appealed to the Supreme Court.
