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PBS News Hour

Alabama’s plan to execute man using nitrogen raises concerns

Unless the courts intervene, a death-row inmate in Alabama is scheduled on Thursday to become the first person in the U.S. to be executed using an untested method: nitrogen hypoxia. Alabama’s solicitor general has called it “painless and humane,” but the UN Human RIghts Office says it could amount to torture. John Yang speaks with the Death Penalty Information Center’s Robin Maher to learn more.