美国最高法院阻止阿拉巴马州使用氮气窒息法处决死刑犯Supreme Court Blocks Alabama From Executing Inmate Using Nitrogen Gas

美国最高法院于2026年6月11日晚间做出的这项裁决，是在阿拉巴马州原定于当地时间周四下午6点对49岁的杰弗里·李执行死刑前仅几个小时做出的。面对该州提出的紧急申请，最高法院在紧急案件审理记录中发布了一项简短的单句裁决，宣布“拒绝”阿拉巴马州的请求。与紧急死刑上诉中的常见情况一样，最高法院多数派并未对其拒绝该州申请的决定阐明具体理由。

The Supreme Court's ruling late Thursday evening came just hours before the scheduled 6 p.m. local time execution of 49-year-old Jeffery Lee. In response to the state's emergency appeal, the high court issued a brief, one-sentence order on its emergency docket simply stating that Alabama's request "was denied." As is typical for emergency death penalty appeals, the majority of the justices did not provide any written explanation or legal reasoning for their decision to block the execution.

与此同时，表示反对的三位保守派大法官克拉伦斯·托马斯、塞缪尔·阿利托和尼尔·戈萨奇也未撰写正式的反对意见，仅表明他们支持阿拉巴马州的请求，允许执行死刑。阿拉巴马州总检察长办公室此前向最高法院提出申请，要求推翻联邦法官永久禁止该州使用氮气窒息法对李执行死刑的判决。最高法院的这一决定，使得该州无法立即使用这种备受争议的新型方式执行死刑。

Similarly, the three dissenting conservative justices—Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Neil Gorsuch—did not write a formal dissenting opinion, only noting that they would have granted Alabama's request to proceed. The Alabama Attorney General's Office had petitioned the Supreme Court to overturn a federal judge's decision that permanently barred the state from executing Lee using nitrogen hypoxia. The high court's denial prevents the state from immediately moving forward with the controversial execution method.

在此次最高法院做出裁决之前，两家联邦下级法院已对阿拉巴马州的执行方案做出了否定判定。联邦第十一巡回上诉法院裁定，该州的氮气窒息法执行程序存在导致严重痛苦和额外伤害的实质性风险，这种痛苦超出了死亡本身的范畴。上诉法院认为，该方案很可能违反了美国宪法第八修正案中关于禁止残酷和非常规惩罚的规定。此前，联邦地区法院曾一度拒绝杰弗里·李的诉求，但上诉法院的这一裁决扭转了局势。

Prior to the Supreme Court's decision, two lower federal courts had already ruled against Alabama's execution protocol. The federal appeals court determined that Alabama's nitrogen hypoxia protocol presents a substantial risk of serious harm, causing severe pain over and above death itself. The appeals court concluded that the method likely violates the Eighth Amendment's constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment, reversing an initial federal district court decision that had rejected Jeffery Lee's challenge.

在专家和目击者于2026年4月的无陪审团审判中提供证词后，一名联邦法官于本周正式宣布永久禁止该州使用氮气窒息法对李执行死刑。下级法院在判决中指出，该州可以采用枪决等其他可行方式来执行死刑，这样能显著降低对被执行人造成严重伤害的风险。这一系列下级法院的裁决最终促使阿拉巴马州向最高法院提交了紧急申请，试图推翻这些禁令。

Following testimony from experts and witnesses during an April bench trial, a federal judge permanently banned the state from executing Lee using nitrogen gas. The lower court noted that the state could feasibly execute Lee using an alternative method, such as a firing squad, which would significantly reduce the risk of severe harm. These consecutive lower court rulings forced Alabama to file its emergency petition with the nation's highest court in an attempt to overturn the bans.

杰弗里·李的死刑判决源于1998年发生在美国阿拉巴马州奥尔维尔的一起当铺抢劫案。在这起案件中，李杀害了吉米·埃利斯和伊莱恩·汤普森两人，并因此被判犯有严重谋杀罪。在当年的审判中，陪审团曾建议判处李终身监禁且不得假释。然而，审判法院法官推翻了陪审团的这一建议，执意判处其死刑。

Jeffery Lee's death sentence stems from a 1998 pawnshop robbery in Orrville, Alabama, during which he killed two people, Jimmy Ellis and Elaine Thompson. Following his conviction for capital murder, the trial jury recommended that Lee be sentenced to life imprisonment without parole. However, the trial court judge overruled the jury's recommendation and instead imposed a death sentence.

在最高法院做出阻止使用氮气执行死刑的裁决后，李的律师团队再次呼吁恢复陪审团最初的判决。李的律师发表声明强调，陪审团当年投票选择保留他的生命，宪法在今天取得了胜利。他们呼吁阿拉巴马州州长凯·艾维完成陪审团未竟的工作，正式恢复陪审团做出的终身监禁且不得假释的裁决。

In light of the Supreme Court's decision to block the nitrogen execution, Lee's legal team has renewed their efforts to challenge his death sentence. His lawyers released a statement emphasizing that the jury had voted to spare his life. They called on Alabama Governor Kay Ivey to restore the jury's original verdict of life imprisonment without parole, arguing that the state should respect the decision made by the citizens who heard the case.

氮气窒息法作为一种相对较新的死刑执行方式，在引入后引发了医学界和法律界的强烈质疑。医学专家指出，强迫吸入纯氮气会导致“空气饥饿”和长达数分钟的痛苦窒息感。目击者和相关倡导者也报告称，此前接受该刑罚的人在死亡过程中会出现挣扎和呕吐。尽管面临这些批评，自2024年1月引入该协议以来，阿拉巴马州已通过这种方式处决了七人，该方法在一定程度上是为了应对制药公司拒绝为注射死刑提供药物的现状。

The controversy surrounding nitrogen hypoxia stems from intense criticism by medical experts and witnesses who warn of the severe physical suffering it causes. Experts state that forcing an inmate to breathe pure nitrogen through a gas mask results in "air hunger" and painful suffocation lasting several minutes, with witnesses of past executions reporting that individuals writhed and retched. Although Alabama has successfully executed seven people using this method since introducing it in January 2024—partly as a workaround to pharmaceutical companies refusing to supply lethal injection drugs—the protocol remains highly contested.

在最高法院阻止此次氮气执行后，阿拉巴马州仍有其他途径来执行对杰弗里·李的死刑判决。该州可以通过常规上诉程序继续争取使用氮气，也可以改用其他法定执行方式，包括电椅、注射死刑或李本人曾要求过的枪决。此前，下级法院的法官已指出，采用枪决等替代方式在技术上是可行的，并且能显著降低给被执行人带来严重伤害和额外痛苦的风险。

Despite the Supreme Court's block on the immediate use of nitrogen gas, Alabama retains multiple legal avenues to carry out Jeffery Lee's death sentence. The state can choose to pursue the regular, longer appeals process to defend its nitrogen protocol, or it can pivot to other legally authorized execution methods, such as lethal injection or the electric chair. Furthermore, the state could utilize a firing squad, an alternative execution method that Lee himself had previously requested and which a federal judge noted is feasible and would significantly minimize the risk of severe harm.

在最高法院做出裁决后，杰弗里·李的律师团队发表声明，对这一结果表示赞许。他们强调，当年审判李的陪审团投票选择保留他的生命，而最高法院今天的决定意味着宪法取得了胜利。律师团队呼吁阿拉巴马州州长凯·艾维尊重这一结果，正式恢复陪审团最初做出的终身监禁且不得假释的判决，完成陪审团当年未竟的工作。

Following the Supreme Court's decision, Jeffery Lee's legal team released a statement praising the outcome as a victory for the Constitution, emphasizing that Lee's original trial jury had voted to spare his life. His attorneys urged Alabama Governor Kay Ivey to finish what the jury started by restoring the original verdict of life imprisonment without parole, arguing that the state should respect the decision of the citizens who heard the case.

与此相反，阿拉巴马州总检察长史蒂夫·马歇尔对最高法院的裁决表示强烈谴责。马歇尔在一份声明中表示，当晚的裁决是一场“司法不公”，这并非针对州政府，而是针对被李残忍且无理杀害的吉米·埃利斯和伊莱恩·汤普森。马歇尔向受害者家属承诺，该州将永远不会停止为吉米和伊莱恩寻求正义。

In stark contrast, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall strongly condemned the high court's ruling, calling it a "miscarriage of justice" not for the state itself, but for the victims, Jimmy Ellis and Elaine Thompson, whom Lee brutally and senselessly murdered. Marshall reached out to the victims' families in his statement, vowing that the state's prosecutors would never stop seeking justice for Jimmy and Elaine.