BATON ROUGE, LA – After a 15-year hiatus, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry has announced his administration’s intent to resume executions using a newly-approved nitrogen gas protocol, according to the Death Penalty Information Center (DPI).
The last execution in Louisiana occurred in 2010 when Gerald Bordelon was put to death by lethal injection, DPI notes.
“For too long, Louisiana has failed to uphold the promises made to victims of our state’s most violent crimes,” stated Gov. Landry earlier this month, reported DPI, noting Gov. Landry said, “The time for broken promises has ended; we will carry out these sentences and justice will be dispensed.”
The DPI said Louisiana’s legislature passed a bill in March 2024 authorizing nitrogen gas as an execution method, following Alabama’s lead in implementing this controversial technique.
“Alabama is the only state that has used nitrogen gas in executions and has done so four times since January 2024,” added DPI, explaining Mississippi and Oklahoma also authorize the use but without current systems in place.
The DPI also reports the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections describes “a mask is to be fixed on the prisoner’s face which will replace the flow of oxygen with that of pure nitrogen. The prisoner will be allowed to have a spiritual advisor” and “designated victim relationship witnesses and designated media representatives” will be allowed to view the execution.
Attorneys and advocates have raised concerns over the secrecy surrounding the new protocol, said DPI, noting, “Secrecy increases the risk of problems,” in a 2018 warning of potentially botched executions.
“Within one day of Gov. Landry’s announcement, multiple district attorneys in Louisiana began requesting execution dates for prisoners,” according to the DPI.
The DPI claims DeSoto Parish DA Charles Adams secured a March 17 execution date for 81-year-old Christopher Sepulvado, despite his attorney’s claims that Sepulvado suffers from severe medical conditions.
Cecelia Kappel, director of Loyola University’s Center for Social Justice, called Rapides DA Phillip Terrell’s push for Larry Roy’s execution “patently unlawful” and emblematic of “how reckless the state’s plan to restart executions is,” reported DPI.
DPI also notes as Louisiana moves forward with its new execution protocol, legal challenges are expected, particularly regarding the potential suffering caused by nitrogen hypoxia and the high percentage of death row inmates with mental illness or intellectual disabilities.
