Alabama is set to tie its record for the most executions in a single year with an upcoming lethal injection on Oct. 17. Fordham Law Professor Deborah Denno, death penalty expert and founding director of Fordham Law’s Neuroscience and Law Center, appeared on WBRC FOX6 News in Birmingham, Alabama, to express concern over the state’s rising number of executions, noting that Alabama did not carry out as many death sentences after implementing the death penalty in 1976.
The state’s growing execution numbers are drawing attention, with legal experts noting that Alabama is increasingly setting itself apart from other states. Fordham Law School Professor Deborah Denno shared her thoughts on the trend.
“If you’re for the death penalty, then you would think this is great, that Alabama is moving in the right direction,” Denno said. “On the other hand, the fact that you have a state that is so separate from other states in this country, much less other states that have the death penalty, is telling as well.”
Denno expressed concern over the state’s rising number of executions, noting that Alabama did not carry out as many death sentences after implementing the death penalty in 1976.
“I think that’s a shocking tie when you start looking at the fact that Alabama earlier didn’t execute that many people after it adopted the death penalty in 1976 along with other states, so this has been quite a pronounced increase over time,” she said.
Denno believes a new method of execution, nitrogen hypoxia, is also contributing to the rise.
“Nearly half of these executions are going to be conducted by nitrogen hypoxia,” she said. “Alabama is the only state in the world, much less the country, that’s ever used that method of execution.”
While state leaders, including Attorney General Steve Marshall, argue that nitrogen hypoxia is a safe and effective alternative to lethal injection, Denno remains skeptical.
“Two of the three nitrogen hypoxia executions are going to be conducted on inmates for whom lethal injection failed, and that is a stunning statistic,” Denno said.