Oklahoma considers gas chamber to execute death row inmates

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) " Legislators are pushing to make Oklahoma the first state in the nation to allow the use of nitrogen gas to execute death row inmates after a constitutional review of its lethal injection formula forced the state to put executions on hold.

A bill scheduled for a hearing Wednesday in a House committee would make death by "nitrogen hypoxia" a backup method of execution if the state's current lethal injection process is found to be unconstitutional.

"You wouldn't need a medical doctor to do it. It's a lot more practical. It's efficient," said Rep. Mike Christian.

The U.S. Supreme Court currently is reviewing Oklahoma's three-drug method in a challenge sparked by a botched lethal injection last spring in which an inmate groaned and writhed on the gurney before a problem was discovered with an intravenous line. The case centers on whether the sedative midazolam properly renders an inmate unconscious before the second and third drugs are administered. Three scheduled lethal injections in Oklahoma have been delayed pending the high court's review.

Tennessee passed a law last year to reinstate the electric chair if it can't get lethal drugs, and Utah is considering bringing back the firing squad. Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt has urged legislators to consider the creation of a state compounding pharmacy to produce the drugs itself.

A fiscal analysis of the Oklahoma bill projects it would cost about $300,000 to build a gas chamber at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. A similar bill is pending in the Oklahoma Senate.

Christian said unlike traditional gas chambers that used drugs like cyanide that caused a buildup of carbon dioxide in the blood, breathing nitrogen would be painless because it leads to hypoxia, a gradual lack of oxygen in the blood, similar to what can happen to pilots at high altitudes.

Under current law in Oklahoma, where lethal injection has been used since 1990, if that method is found to be unconstitutional, the state would use the electric chair. The firing squad would be the third option.

Christian said he is considering amending his bill to eliminate electrocution as a backup method.

The Rev. Adam Leathers, a spokesman for the Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, said he wished lawmakers would entertain abolishing the death penalty altogether, rather than spending time developing more efficient ways to kill people.

"It's evidence of what a ludicrous idea this is to begin with," Leathers said. "We're scrambling around trying to figure out humane ways to kill someone.

"There isn't a right way to do the wrong thing."

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House Bill 1879: http://bit.ly/1vetcRn

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Follow Sean Murphy at www.twitter.com/apseanmurphy