Lawsuit Claims Alabama's Nitrogen Gas Execution Method 'Hostile to Religion'

Rev. Jeff Hood, spiritual adviser to inmate Kenneth Eugene Smith, challenges restrictions placed on him during the first U.S. execution using nitrogen gas.

Kenneth Eugene Smith, an inmate in Alabama, is scheduled to be the first person in the U.S. to be executed using nitrogen gas.
Rev. Jeff Hood, Smith's spiritual adviser, has filed a lawsuit claiming the execution method is 'hostile to religion' due to restrictions placed on him during the execution.
The Alabama Department of Corrections asked Hood to sign a waiver acknowledging the risks and agreeing to stay 3 feet away from Smith's gas mask during the execution.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year that states must accommodate the wishes of death row inmates who want to have their pastors pray aloud and even touch them during their executions.
Smith was convicted in the 1988 murder-for-hire slaying of Elizabeth Sennett in northwestern Alabama.