Louisiana execution bill advances [Video]

A bill that would allow the use of nitrogen gas and execution as forms of capital punishment now heads to the House for final approval. House Bill 6 was passed 24-15 and will now go to the House for final approval, then to Gov. Jeff Landry, who is expected to sign it into law. Currently, lethal injection is the only method to carry out execution in Louisiana. Earlier reports: Over the past couple of decades, executions in the United States have vastly reduced — in part because of legal battles, a shortage of lethal injection drugs and declined support for capital punishment, leading to a majority of states to either abolish or pause carrying out the death penalty. In Louisiana, around 60 people currently sit on death row, but an execution has not occurred since 2010. However, between a new conservative governor and the nation’s first execution using nitrogen gas, …