The Future of the Death Penalty in America
Alabama has become the first US state to execute a death row prisoner using nitrogen gas. What does the future hold for the death penalty in America? (Credit: Getty)
Kenneth Smith has become the first death row prisoner in America to be executed using nitrogen gas, in the state of Alabama. The state's attorney general has described it as "an effective and humane method of execution" but it has attracted criticism for being untested and unproven. US states which carry out the death penalty are facing increasing difficulties carrying out executions by lethal injection. Are other states likely to follow Alabama's lead, and what does all this mean for the way capital punishment is carried out in America? Dan Hardoon talks to Livvy Haydock, who investigated US executions for the 麻豆社 podcast Killing Death Row, in this episode of 5 Questions On.
