Louisiana lawmaker proposes adding nitrogen gas and electrocution to the state’s execution methods

By SARA CLINE
Associated Press

BATON ROGUE, La. (AP) — In Louisiana, around 60 people currently sit on death row, but an execution hasn’t occurred since 2010. Between a conservative governor and a new execution method, there has been a renewed push to find alternatives to lethal injection. Ahead of Louisiana’s short crime-related legislative session next week, a state lawmaker filed a bill that proposes adding nitrogen gas and electrocution to the list of authorized execution methods. A handful of states have already sought to include additional options, such as firing squads. Most recently, Alabama used nitrogen gas to put to death a convicted killer in January — marking the first time a new execution method had been used in the United States since lethal injection was introduced in 1982.