COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio’s Republican attorney general put his weight behind a legislative effort Tuesday to bring nitrogen gas executions to the state, joining what could be a national movement in pro-death penalty states to expand capital punishment on the heels of Alabama’s first use of the method last week.
Three states — Alabama, Mississippi and Oklahoma — have already authorized nitrogen hypoxia as an execution method, and many more are looking for new ways to execute people because the drugs used in lethal injections have become difficult to find.
Attorney General Dave Yost said adding nitrogen gas as an execution alternative in Ohio could end an unofficial death penalty moratorium that Republican Gov. Mike DeWine declared in 2020.
Alabama used nitrogen hypoxia for the first time Thursday, when convicted murderer Kenneth Eugene Smith, 58, was put to death with nitrogen gas administered through a face mask to deprive him of oxygen.
The execution took about 22 minutes from the time between the opening and closing of curtains to the viewing room. Smith seemed to remain conscious for several minutes. For at least two minutes, he appeared to shake and writhe on the gurney, sometimes pulling against the restraints.
Ohio has 118 men and one woman on death row, according to the most recent state report.
As Ohio considers nitrogen hypoxia, an execution method deemed by some to be torturous and unusually harsh, we dive into the history of capital punishment in Illinois and Iowa.
The Death Penalty in Illinois
According to the Illinois Secretary of State's website, the state's first execution took place in 1819, when John Kilduck was hung for murder.
Between 1819 and 1999, 357 people were executed in Illinois.
From 1819 to 1928, Illinois' method of execution was hanging. Then from 1928 to 1962, convicted criminals were killed with the electric chair. There were no executions from 1962 to 1990 when Illinois began using lethal injection as an execution method. Between 1990 and 1999, lethal injection was used to execute 12 prisoners. The last execution in the state took place in 1999.
In 2000, Gov. George Ryan placed a moratorium on executions, before eventually commuting the sentences of 167 death row inmates.
In 2011, a bill to abolish the state's death penalty passed the Illinois House with 60 votes, the minimum needed to pass. The bill passed the Senate by a 32-25 vote and went into effect on July 1, 2011.
The Death Penalty in Iowa
According to the Death Penalty Information Center, the State of Iowa executed 46 individuals from 1834 to 1965. All 46 individuals were executed by hanging.
Iowa abolished capital punishment in 1872. However, an increase in crime across the state blamed mainly on the abolishing of the death penalty led the state to reinstate capital punishment in 1878.
Capital punishment was abolished once and for all in 1965 by Gov. Harold Hughes. There have been attempts to reinstate the death penalty since, but none have been successful.
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