You've Got To Keep the Death Machine Churning
Execution by nitrogen gas is part of what's becoming a pattern around the country
Alabama is getting close to completing a gas chamber to kill inmates on death row.
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The state made the announcement in a federal court filing last week.Â
The court filing did not describe how the proposed execution system would work. When the Alabama legislation was approved authorizing nitrogen hypoxia, proponents theorized that death by nitrogen hypoxia could be a simpler and more humane execution method. Death would be caused by forcing the inmate to breathe only nitrogen, thereby depriving him or her of oxygen.
Bleak stuff. But execution by nitrogen gas—a technically legal method of execution that's never been put into practice—is part of what's becoming a pattern around the country. Faced with a shortage of chemicals for lethal injection due primarily to the bad press for companies involved in the practice, states are turning to other means to keep the death machine churning.Â
In Oklahoma, gas is a contingency method of execution, though the state has enough chemicals for lethal injections. Discourse Blog's Jack Crosbie wrote last month about a new bill in South Carolina that would force death row inmates on death row to decide between the electric chair or the firing squad.Â
That these barbaric methods of execution are becoming more widespread may, as Crosbie wrote, result in the public turning against state-sanctioned murder. But I fear that the opposite will happen—that the more brutal the state’s violence is, the more it becomes normalized in American society.Â
I’m working on some pieces for you on topics like unemployment, ICE, and the media. Those are all coming soon, as well as follow up reporting on Russell Stover.
On Monday, I wrote about minor league baseball for Business Insider:
Minor League players have been subjected to mistreatment and poor pay for decades. Congress codified that maltreatment in 2018, including a provision in the $1.3 trillion Consolidated Appropriations Act that exempts teams from having to pay minor leaguers overtime or for spring training. The deck is stacked against minor league players, who are fighting for an elusive chance to make it to the majors and a real paycheck.Â
This is the American way. Around the country, workers are subjected to poor conditions, worse pay, and sold unrealistic promises of better futures. Rich owners of baseball teams deny their employees in the minors adequate pay and shelter despite the relatively low cost of doing so — just like billionaires like Jeff Bezos overwork and underpay their employees in other industries.Â
And I went on Tech Won’t Save Us to talk about venture capital and media—including Substack.
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