Inmate makes Supreme Court bid before Tuesday execution
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Illustration: Lindsey Bailey/Axios
Unless last-minute court decisions change the timeline, Jessie Hoffman Jr. will be the first person in 15 years to be executed by the state of Louisiana.
The big picture: State officials plan to execute Hoffman by nitrogen hypoxia, making Louisiana only the second state in the nation to use the method.
The latest: Hoffman's legal team on Monday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to step in to halt the execution proceedings.
Catch up quick: A St. Tammany Parish judge signed an execution warrant for Hoffman on Feb. 12, just two days after the state approved a new protocol for carrying out capital punishments. Hoffman's execution date was set for March 18.
- Since then, Hoffman's lawyers have argued that the protocol violates his religious rights and the 8th Amendment, which bans cruel and unusual punishment.
- Last week, U.S. District Court Judge Shelly Dick halted the state's execution plans while that lawsuit works its way through the courts.
- But then the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals stepped in and overturned that decision Friday, allowing Tuesday's execution to go forward.
What they said: Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill called the decision "justice for Mary 'Molly' Elliot, her friends, her family, and for Louisiana."
- Hoffman was found guilty of Elliott's 1997 kidnapping, rape and first-degree murder.
Hoffman's lawyers hope the Supreme Court weighs in on two key legal questions, they say, including:
- Is execution by nitrogen gas an infringement upon his religious rights? Hoffman began practicing Buddhism while incarcerated, his lawyers say, and because meditative breathing is a key part of his practice, the mask used in a nitrogen gas execution prohibits his religious expression.
- Should psychological suffering be considered within what counts as cruel and unusual punishment in the 8th Amendment?
Zoom in: In Dick's ruling, the district judge said Hoffman's legal team successfully argued that "nitrogen hypoxia superadds pain and terror as compared to firing squad," a method Hoffman has said he prefers.
- But Dick's ruling, the Fifth District says, "gets the Constitution backwards, because it's premised on the odd notion that the Eighth Amendment somehow requires Louisiana to use an admittedly more painful method of execution — namely, execution by firing squad rather than by nitrogen hypoxia."
- The Fifth District also notes "surely every method of execution necessarily involves some measure of psychological terror" and maintains that nitrogen hypoxia "does not produce physical pain."
Yes, but: That detail has been hotly debated. Go deeper.
What's next: By state law, if the case remains unimpeded, Hoffman's execution would take place Tuesday at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola's execution chambers between 6pm and 9pm.