US Supreme Court rules Alabama can proceed with first execution by nitrogen gas

Anti-death penalty activists place signs along the road heading to Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore ahead of the scheduled execution of Kenneth Eugene Smith on Thursday (Kim Chandler, AP)

The US Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that Alabama can proceed with using nitrogen gas to put a man to death, refusing to block what would be the nation’s first execution by a new method since 1982.

The decision clears the way for the state to carry out the execution of Kenneth Eugene Smith — a 58-year-old convicted killer whose 2022 lethal injection was called off at the last minute because authorities could not connect an IV line — this time by using nitrogen gas.