Journalists, lawyers, a physician, and a widow who have witnessed nitrogen hypoxia executions in Alabama testified in federal court Thursday about what they observed.

U.S. District Judge Emily Marks held a hearing on death row inmate Anthony Boyd’s lawsuit to block his execution, scheduled for Oct. 23-24.

Boyd is seeking a preliminary injunction. His lawsuit claims, in part, that execution by nitrogen hypoxia violates the constitution.

“On its face, the nitrogen hypoxia execution protocol violates the Eighth Amendment’s right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment because the administration of pure nitrogen gas causes the prisoner to experience the extreme pain and terror of suffocation while still conscious, inflicting gratuitous suffering beyond what is constitutionally permit

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