Alabama Supreme Court has granted the state attorney general's request for an execution warrant for Kenneth Eugene Smith, paving the way for the state to become the first to use nitrogen gas as an execution method. The decision has sparked debate, with many questioning the use of nitrogen gas as unconstitutional, and further litigation is likely. Other states may follow suit, but Alabama is the first to move forward with the plan.
Posts tagged as “Alabama”
Joran van der Sloot, the chief suspect in the Natalee Holloway case, has pleaded guilty to extortion and wire fraud charges in a U.S. federal court and admitted to bludgeoning Holloway to death on an Aruban beach. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison and was extradited from Peru to the U.S. in June of 2023. The plea deal brings closure to the Holloway family, who have been searching for answers since Natalee's disappearance in 2005.
The case challenges South Carolina's congressional district map adopted in 2022, which was brought by Black South Carolinians alleging that the state is diluting Black voters’ power. A three-judge federal district court panel found that the map had “bleached … African American voters out of the district”. The Supreme Court will decide whether the process was illegal racial discrimination or simply partisan politics.
Alabama has been ordered to conduct its 2024 congressional elections under a new map crafted by a special master, following a Supreme Court decision in June that found the state had violated the Voting Rights Act. The new map creates a second Black-plurality district in southern Alabama, which is expected to heavily favor Democrats. The new district was created by moving the heavily white coastal region into the 1st congressional district and extending the 2nd district across the Black Belt. The new map is set to be used for the 2024 congressional elections, and it will likely have a significant impact on the state’s political landscape.
Alabama has been ordered to adopt a new congressional redistricting map, which will create a second majority-Black district and give Black voters in the state a greater voice in the 2024 elections. This ruling is a victory for civil rights activists who have long argued that the state's congressional districts were drawn in a way that diluted the voting power of Black voters, and is a step towards ensuring that all Alabamians have an equal voice in the state's political process.
The Supreme Court has ruled in favor of allowing Alabama to redraw its congressional maps with greater representation for Black voters. This could potentially send another Democrat to Congress, and is a victory for Black voters in Alabama who have long been underrepresented. The ruling orders Alabama to redraw its maps with an additional Black majority district or “something quite close to it”, and Secretary of State John Merrill has submitted three proposals to do so.
The Alabama Supreme Court is considering a request from the state attorney general to set an execution date for Kenneth Eugene Smith using a proposed new execution method of nitrogen hypoxia. Smith's lawyers have argued that this method is "experimental" and that the state has disclosed little information about how it would work, while the state has argued that it is a humane and painless way to carry out executions. If the court approves the request, Smith would become the first person in Alabama to be executed using the nitrogen hypoxia method, otherwise the state will have to find another way to carry out Smith's death sentence.
Key takeaways: The Supreme Court denied emergency requests from Alabama Republicans to use a congressional map drawn by GOP state lawmakers. The court’s decision was…