Tara Allsup

Professor Alger
English Composition
12/11/16
Death by...? Nitrogen

The death penalty is a very controversial subject matter in this world. In the spring of 2014,

Oklahoma was publicized for the botched executions that took place by lethal injection. Botched

means to carry out badly or carelessly. By some, the death penalty is considered inhumane and

cruel. Lethal injection is the current method for the death penalty. This is where the condemned

prisoner is injected with potassium chloride by an IV in 30 minutes, which stops the heart and is

very painful. In 2016, Senator Sykes of Oklahoma created a Joint Resolution pertaining to the

death penalty and the botched executions. Most commonly known as State Question 776, stated

that, The legislators are expressly empowered to designate any method of execution not

prohibited by the United States Constitution (Proposed State Questions). This brings up the

question of what should be required for an execution method. That is where death by nitrogen

comes in. Death by nitrogen is where the oxygen is replaced with nitrogen. This method is more

effective because it is cost-effective and it is humane for the prisoner and the executioner.

Lethal injection is not humane for many reasons. First, potassium chloride is proven to be

one of the most painful ways to die. It causes the veins to burst and mimic a heart attack. Second,

the Governor and the victims family watch the prisoners execution if they wish it. Some say it

brings justice to the family, but seeing the prisoner suffer is not exactly justice. Death by nitrogen

is painless. This new proposed method, known as nitrogen asphyxiation, seals the condemned in

an airtight chamber pumped full of nitrogen gas, causing death by a lack of oxygen. Nitrogen gas

has yet to be put to the test as a method of capital punishmentno country currently uses it for
state-sanctioned executions. Although, people do die accidentally of nitrogen asphyxiation, they

usually never know what hit them. It is even possible that death by nitrogen gas is mildly euphoric.

Deep-sea divers exposed to an excess of nitrogen develop a narcosis, colorfully known as raptures

of the deep (McNichol, Tom). The condemned prisoner goes to sleep and does not wake up. It is

also very cost effective. Nitrogen gas costs 50 cents per gallon. It takes roughly 250 gallons to fill

a room up, and out the condemned prisoner to death. Thats approximately $125 per prisoner.

$1.26 million is the cost of execution by lethal injection and $740,000 is the cost of life in prison

(Greer, Kate Carlton). Not only is death by nitrogen cost effective, but it is also humane for the

prisoner and executioner. For the prisoner to know he/she is going to be executed by a painless

method would probably help them be at peace with dying. It is also humane for the prisoners

executioner.

In the lethal injection method, the executioner is in the same room watching and listening

to the prisoner cry in pain. What makes the executioner different from the condemned prisoner

who is most likely a murderer? They are killing people just as the people on death row, but it is

allowed because it is a job in the government. Death by nitrogen keeps the executioner in a

different room and not able to watch the execution. This method could be done by a robot who

flips the switch for nitrogen gas and keeps the executioner from having the guilt of killing a

person. Bringing justice to the family is one of the main parts. While there are some people in

this world that would like to see their victims murderer suffer in pain, that is considered

inhumane. Nitrogen brings justice to the family without watching the prisoner die.

Death by nitrogen would also help with incarceration rates. By shortening the prisoners

time on death row, it would allow higher penitentiaries to have more space for other criminals.

The more gas that is pumped in the airtight concealed room the more prisoners you could execute
in one setting. Spending $125 versus $1.26 million is a big difference. The money used for

executions could go to a greater cause such as education, which would help turn our state around.

Is there a way death by nitrogen could botched? Yes, you can always botch something, but the

difference is that it is not a painful botch using nitrogen. The most that would happen is that

the prisoner would simply wake up. This is the most humane method of execution.

The next question is the most important one to our society; why is there a need for the death

penalty in the first place? Here is the story of a young ladys death who was a dear friend: in April

2014, Anne Josette Hill went missing. For several months, we searched and searched, but no sign

of Annie appeared. Eventually human remains were found in McClain County and later identified

as Annies bones. In October 2014, two teens were arrested for first-degree murder charges related

to Annies disappearance:16-year-old Chadd Raymond and 17-yearold Chloe Thomas. Two years

later, May of 2014, the two teenagers were brought to trial where Chadd said yes to a plea deal:

35 years in prison no matter what for the exchange of his testimony. The judge accepted the plea

deal and set the trial for Chloe in November. November 2016 finally rolls around, and the details

of Annies murder are brought out to the public. Annie was dating Chadds older brother who got

arrested a day earlier, but Chloe had his phone and acted like him to get her to come over. When

Hill grew tired of waiting for Reggie Raymond to arrive at the apartment, she attempted to leave.

Chadd Raymond testified. He got up and looked at Thomas who nodded at him to go forward with

robbing her, but because she would recognize them, they went ahead with the murder of Anne

Hill.

"I kicked the door shut and put her in a headlock, Chadd Raymond said. He testified with a low

voice, showing little emotion.

Out of fear of being identified by Hill when she woke up, Chadd Raymond decided they needed

to kill Hill, he testified.

Before dumping the body, Thomas allegedly told Chadd Raymond to "disfigure" the victim's face,

according to prosecutors. Chadd Raymond testified he put a plastic sack over the victim's head

before striking her in the face with a wrench five times.

I felt like it needed to be done so nobody would recognize her.

The victim's remains were found about a year later in a rural part of McClain County by a

seismography crew. Both teens were charged with Second-degree murder and Chloe will get life

in prison and Chadd gets 35 years in prison (Schwab, Kyle). This is just one story out of several

thousand cases.

The brutal and intentional nature of this crime, and others like it, justifies the use of the

death penalty. Lethal injection is to be said cruel, inhumane, and causes excruciating pain. Why

is there a need for the death penalty? Here are a few statements to answer this question. As long

as there are people killing people, there needs to be a way to keep these murders out of our society

and get the victims the justice they deserve. Therefore, the society is saying is that these two teens

can take a 16-year-old girls life brutally, graphically which would be consider heinous, yet they

deserve to live because it is inhumane to kill people. One counter argument is cost. The death

penalty is quite expensive and life imprisonment can be cheaper. Over the lifetime of a case,

executing prisoners can be three times as expensive as life in prison, primarily due to the higher

costs of capital punishment trials, automatic appeals, and the heightened security on death row

with lower staff-to-prisoner ratios. Commuting all death sentences to life in prison would save

millions of dollars per year in the U.S. and many billions over the coming decades (Brook, Dan,
Ph. D.). The next one is deterrence. The death penalty does not have a deterrent factor and does

not decrease crime. States with the death penalty do not have lower homicide rates. Many criminals

do not get caught. Most criminals do not receive the death penalty, and those who do are typically

on death row for a long time, often for at least a decade and sometimes more; so, would-be

criminals do not typically make a connection between their crime and capital punishment (Brook,

Dan, Ph. D). Was it not inhumane the way they killed Annie? Maybe to some people it was not.

Maybe they think that they were just teens that did the wrong thing. Thanks to our justice system,

these murders will not get the death penalty and many others in our state will not either. We as

taxpayers would rather put these people in prison for life which costs $740,000 and $1.26 million

for lethal injection, but not even consider choosing the cost-effective way: death by nitrogen. Why

not change our methods of the death penalty and save millions while humanely taking these

murderers out of our society? Death by nitrogen would be humane. According to Tom McNichol,

The condemned prisoner would detect no abnormal sensation breathing in the odorless, tasteless

gas, and would not undergo the painful experience of suffocation, which is caused by a buildup of

carbon dioxide in the bloodstream, not by lack of oxygen (McNichol, Tom). Since this has never

been tested, we need to continue to research death by nitrogen. As long as 32 states have capital

punishment on the books, there should be a less reliably cruel method of execution than lethal

injection. If we are going to take a life, then we should do it in the most humane, civilized manner

as is possible., a legislator in Missouri (McNichol, Tom). Botched executions are easily done

with lethal injections and it seems that the condemned prisoner is in much pain. Death by nitrogen

is the way to go.

Being cost effective and humane should be required to be an execution method. Legislators

should and will now have the authority to alter the methods the State of Oklahoma uses for the
death penalty. The next step for our state legislators is to evaluate our methods of the death penalty

and turn to the most humane method: death by nitrogen. I understand that lethal injection is the

current method of execution, but why not change it now that we have the authority to do so? Let

us as the people of the great state of Oklahoma tell our elected state legislators to change the

method and bring justice and peace to the victims and the victims families in the most humane,

civilized manner possible.

 Citation Page

Brook, Dan, Ph. D. "Kill the Death Penalty: 10 Arguments Against Capital Punishment." Common
Dreams. Creative Commons Attribution, 15 July 2014. Web. 14 Dec. 2016.

Greer, Kate Carlton. "Oklahoma's Death Penalty State Question Draws Bipartisan Opposition."
KGOU. Kate Carlton Greer, 05 Oct. 2016. Web. 29 Nov. 2016.

McNichol, Tom. "Death by Nitrogen: Will This New Method of Execution Save the Death
Penalty?" Slate Magazine. N.p., 22 May 2014. Web. 29 Nov. 2016.

Schwab, Kyle. "Prosecution Witness Testified He Asked Friend to 'finish Her Off'" NewsOK.com.
N.p., 18 Nov. 2016. Web. 29 Nov. 2016.

"Proposed State Questions." Proposed Questions. Oklahoma Secretary of State, n.d. Web. 29 Nov.
2016.