21 December 2023 :
December 14, 2023 - Lawsuit against the execution of Kenneth Smith under the new nitrogen hypoxia system set for 25 January
We’re learning Kenneth Smith’s Spiritual Advisor has filed a lawsuit against Alabama Department of Corrections leaders, saying they’re not accounting for an Alabama Death row inmates religious liberty.
This comes roughly a month before Smith’s execution. If successful, he will be the 1st inmate in the country to be executed by the deadly gas.
Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood is Smith’s spiritual advisor. He says a waiver he was required to sign severely limits what he can do while in the execution chamber.
Hood has been a spiritual advisor to many death row inmates across the country.
“I anointed his head with oil. In the midst of doing those things, I had to get very close to him,” Hood describes what he did for Casey McWhorter, who was executed last month.
Hood says he’s never once had to sign a waiver to be with inmates in their final moments, until now.
“This waiver says that I am supposed to stay 3 feet back,” Hood says.
According to Court documents, Hood says ADOC forced him to sign this waiver in order to be with Kenneth Eugene Smith while he’s put to death by nitrogen hypoxia, the first death row inmate in US history to ever be executed by this method. Hood calls the waiver a “tyranny of vagueness.”
“The question becomes ‘three feet back from what? Three feet back from the apparatus, the mechanism?’ And if so, what includes the apparatus and what includes the mechanism,” Hood said.
The lawsuit could have a strong backing: Just last year, the Supreme Court ruled states must accommodate death row inmates who want to have their pastors pray over and even touch them during their executions.
Hood also points to one of the first pieces of law ever passed in the United States.
“We live in a country that is founded, a bedrock, a principle of our country is religious liberty, and those liberties don’t stop depending on your place in society,” Hood said.
WBRC reached out to ADOC for comment. They issued the following statement: “The ADOC cannot comment on pending litigation filed by Mr. Smith.”
Smith’s execution is set for January 25.
