With lethal injections on hold, Oklahoma is considering gassing death-row inmates


The Supreme Court has halted Oklahoma's use of the death penalty while it reviews the state's controversial lethal-injection cocktail, particularly the sedative midazolam. So the Oklahoma legislature is debating another method of execution: Nitrogen gas. Using "nitrogen hypoxia" as a backup method of capital punishment is "a lot more practical" and "efficient," argues state Rep. Mike Christian (R), according to The Associated Press. "You wouldn’t need a medical doctor to do it."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Discrimination: Expanding the definition
Feature The Supreme Court ruled in favor of a straight woman who sued her gay boss for discrimination
-
Crime: Why murder rates are plummeting
Feature Despite public fears, murder rates have dropped nationwide for the third year in a row
-
Education: America First vs. foreign students
Feature Trump's war on Harvard escalates as he blocks foreign students from enrolling at the university
-
ABC News to pay $15M in Trump defamation suit
Speed Read The lawsuit stemmed from George Stephanopoulos' on-air assertion that Trump was found liable for raping writer E. Jean Carroll
-
Judge blocks Louisiana 10 Commandments law
Speed Read U.S. District Judge John deGravelles ruled that a law ordering schools to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms was unconstitutional
-
Texas court allows execution in shaken baby syndrome case
Under the radar The state could be the first to carry out the death penalty for someone convicted due to the diagnosis, despite its controversial applicability
-
ATF finalizes rule to close 'gun show loophole'
Speed Read Biden moves to expand background checks for gun buyers
-
Hong Kong passes tough new security law
Speed Read It will allow the government to further suppress all forms of dissent
-
France enshrines abortion rights in constitution
speed read It became the first country to make abortion a constitutional right
-
Texas executes man despite contested evidence
Speed Read Texas rejected calls for a rehearing of Ivan Cantu's case amid recanted testimony and allegations of suppressed exculpatory evidence
-
Supreme Court wary of state social media regulations
Speed Read A majority of justices appeared skeptical that Texas and Florida were lawfully protecting the free speech rights of users