*Kenny Smith was the first person in the world executed by nitrogen hypoxia. My name is Deanna Smith and I am writing in regards to the discussion of adding nitrogen hypoxia to the list of approved methods of execution. I am one of the first-hand witnesses who attended Alabama’s execution of Kenny Smith in January. Having witnessed this event, I am compelled to ask you to reconsider. What I saw not what was presented to us... Read more
March 1, 2024 Injustice in Oklahoma: A Pending Execution & The Intellectual Disabilities of Michael Smith On April 4, 2024, Michael Smith is scheduled to be executed. Over the past year and a half, I have had the pleasure to serve as Smith’s spiritual advisor. There are a variety of reasons and factors that contribute to my advocacy that his life be spared. The chief of which is that he has become someone I have... Read more
Yesterday (February 25), a United States Airman named Aaron Bushnell posted the following message about the plight of the Palestinian people, “Many of us like to ask ourselves, ‘What would I do if I was alive during slavery? Or the Jim Crow South? Or apartheid? What would I do if my country was committing genocide?’ The answer is, you’re doing it. Right now.” The post included a link to a livestream on Twitch. Not long thereafter,... Read more
The Parable of the Barren Fig Tree on Death Row: Jeff Hood & Bart Johnson Bart Johnson, Prisoner on Alabama’s Death Row The Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood, Death Row Spiritual Advisor Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. So he said to the gardener, ‘See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on... Read more
“Parable of the Banquet” Death Row: Jeff Hood & Bart Johnson The Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood, Death Row Spiritual Advisor Bart Johnson, Prisoner on Alabama’s Death Row Luke 14:16-24 Jesus told a story. The story was not just a story. Then again, stories rarely are just stories. There is always something more than the words at hand. The shape of words shape our lives…or at least the way we know them. There was a man who... Read more
Tyranny of Uncertainty: Kenneth Smith, Nitrogen Hypoxia & I There is no tyranny greater than the tyranny of uncertainty. When you can hold all possibilities…you are able to hold all fears…and when you hold all fears you are able to hold all control. In recent months, the State of Alabama has refused to share even the simplest of evidence of safety precautions that they have in place for the first nitrogen hypoxia execution. We know about as much... Read more
LAW OFFICE OF GREGORY W GARDNER, PLLC _______________________________________________ GREGORY W GARDNER P.O. Box 2366 Boulder, Colorado 80306 [email protected] January 15, 2024 Sent Via Electronic Mail & U.S. Postal Service John Q. Hamm Commissioner Alabama Department of Corrections 301 South Ripley Street (Physical Address) P.O. Box 301501 (Mailing Address) Montgomery, Alabama 36130-1501 Electronic Mail Care of General Counsel Mary-Coleman Roberts: [email protected] Terry Raybon Warden Holman Correctional Facility 866 Ross Road (Physical Location) Holman 3700 (Mailing Address) Atmore, Alabama 36503-3700... Read more
Life is strange. The more we think we know the less we realize there is to know. Maybe better said, sometimes life is simple. The explosion of attention surrounding nitrogen hypoxia would make it easy to forget that there is a human in the midst of it all. Tonight, I was talking to Kenny Smith about everything he was/is going through. The pain of it all kept bubbling up. He is not doing well at all. Nausea. Vomiting. Nightmares. ... Read more
Early this morning, I sent the letter below to the Medical Board of California regarding Dr. Joseph Antognini. If you are as appalled as I am that a medical professional (in clear violation of the admonition to “do no harm”) is out here getting paid (thousands upon thousands of dollars) by state governments to defend their execution protocols, I urge you to do the same. There is ample evidence below (included in my complaint below contacts) to include in... Read more
God died in Alabama. The death wasn’t natural. The manner was a homicide. God suffocated. Never to be heard from again. Maybe not viscerally. How could one murder God? Sometimes our minds are imprisoned by the constraints of imagination. The death of God happened when morality slowly expired in the hearts and minds of Alabamians. When the populace became convinced that Jesus’ admonition to “Love your neighbor as you Love yourself” was a silly admonition for those who... Read more
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