MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
The State of Louisiana is locked in a legal battle over what would've been its first execution in 15 years. State officials planned to use nitrogen gas to execute Jessie Hoffman Jr. on March 18 for murder. But on Tuesday, a federal judge temporarily blocked the execution after Hoffman's lawyers argued the method of execution would violate his constitutional rights. And before we start, a warning. This piece does contain descriptions of what happens during executions. From the Gulf States Newsroom, Kat Stromquist reports.
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KAT STROMQUIST: On the steps of an imposing brick synagogue in uptown New Orleans, about 40 people gather to protest, pray and sing.
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UNIDENTIFIED SINGER: (Singing) I lift my voice...
STROMQUIST: Many are members of the Jews Against Gassing Coalition, a group that formed last year in response to state efforts to add nitrogen gas to its execution methods. Naomi Yavneh Klos is one of their leaders.
NAOMI YAVNEH KLOS: You know, the idea that our state would put people to death by this method that killed millions of our relatives, you know, we felt that that was a place to unite.
STROMQUIST: She says their members see using gas to kill as traumatic.
YAVNEH KLOS: It really is very disquieting to have our concerns as - right? - as a community that has suffered genocide, you know, dismissed.
STROMQUIST: A federal judge this week temporarily halted Hoffman's execution, saying that nitrogen hypoxia poses, quote, "a substantial risk of conscious terror and psychological pain." It deprives the body of oxygen. Louisiana is among states looking to new execution methods as it's faced challenges obtaining lethal injection drugs.
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JEFF LANDRY: States around us are finding ways and methods in order to execute those that have been tried and convicted and sentenced to death.
STROMQUIST: That's Louisiana's governor, Jeff Landry, at a news conference last year. He's led the push to resume executions after a pause of more than a decade. His office didn't respond to interview requests, but he has said the state aims to use the gas method and keep, quote, "promises" to victim families.
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LANDRY: I've listened to those families from all over the state. They deserve their day of justice.
STROMQUIST: Only Alabama has used nitrogen gas to carry out four executions. It's a controversial method. Witnesses to the state's first gas execution said the person being executed stayed conscious for several minutes and was gasping for air and convulsing. University of Richmond law professor Corinna Lain says it's not uncommon for states to set ways to execute people - hanging, the electric chair - then try something else.
CORINNA LAIN: And so, when it becomes unacceptably barbaric, they have to move on because it begins to prompt questions about the death penalty itself.
STROMQUIST: Instead of nitrogen gas, Hoffman has asked to die by firing squad. But that's not an option in Louisiana. South Carolina put someone to death using the firing squad last week. Lane says these methods have something in common.
LAIN: You know, both the firing squad and nitrogen gas are showing state violence. They are reminding Americans, no, this is what the death penalty is.
STROMQUIST: Louisiana plans to appeal the judge's ruling on Hoffman's execution as courts take a closer look at the gas method.
For NPR News, I'm Kat Stromquist in New Orleans.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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