Louisiana completes its first execution in 15 years and its first by nitrogen gas

As reported in this local article, “Louisiana executed death row prisoner Jessie Hoffman on Tuesday evening, killing him with nitrogen gas, a method never before used in the state.” Here is more:

The execution was Louisiana’s first in 15 years. Hoffman was convicted in the 1996 murder and rape of Mary “Molly” Elliott, a 28-year-old advertising executive who was abducted the day before Thanksgiving and shot in rural St. Tammany Parish….

Shortly before Hoffman was set to be executed, a closely divided U.S. Supreme Court rejected a request from his attorneys to issue a stay in his case. Hoffman had argued to them that breathing nitrogen gas would violate his Buddhist beliefs.

U.S. Supreme Court Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson disagreed with the majority decision and said they would grant a stay for Hoffman. Justice Neil Gorsuch also wrote a dissent, saying both the federal district and appeals courts in Hoffman’s case should have considered his claim about the execution method violating his faith under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act.

The Supreme Court order denying a stay, with Justice Gorsuch’s short written dissent, is available at this link.