SCOTUS OKs Execution By Nitrogen Gas Because Evil

Opening Arguments

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Atheist, Opinion, Harvard, News, Politics, Legal, Law, Liberal, Supremecourt

4.3 • 3.7K Ratings

🗓️ 12 February 2024

⏱️ 68 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

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Episode 1004. "What's going wrong?" Neil Young once asked Alabama, and it's still a good question 52 years later in the wake of the unprecedented execution of Eugene Michael Smith on January 25, 2024 by nitrogen gas. Casey returns to share why learning about the death penalty made her want to be a lawyer before we review the recent history of capital punishment in the U.S. and the dangers of an originalist interpretation of a "cruel and unusual" execution. We then take a closer look at how a completely untested method of taking a human life came to be used in Alabama and find some hope for an end to state-sanctioned murder.

1. VIDEO: Spiritual advisor Jeff Hood describes the execution of Eugene Michael Smith

2. VIDEO: Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall describes Smith's execution as "textbook" 3. Bucklew v. Precythe :: 587 U.S. ___ (2019)

4. Sotomayor's dissent in Smith v. Hamm

5. Thomas and Alito's dissent in Hamm v. Smith

6. The Death Penalty in 2023: Year End Report | Death Penalty Information Center

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0:37.0	I'm sorry, which of us went to law school. We don't have to work with any lawyer we don't want and that means you're fired.
1:02.0	Why is it only the witnesses must swear to tell the whole truth?
1:08.6	Why isn't the same oath administered to the attorneys.
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1:19.6	Welcome to opening arguments.
1:21.4	The podcast where a comedian takes lawyers to court.
1:25.2	Don't take ethics advice from Alan Dershowitz.
1:27.8	Hello and welcome to opening arguments. This is episode
1:33.7	1004. Can you believe that the three of us have done a thousand and three
1:38.3	episodes before this crazy? I'm Thomas that over there is Matt how you you doing Matt? All right. We're going to be talking about something with the speech to joke ratio is pretty low today, but I'm doing good. Yeah, I do actually want to talk about that and this is certainly an inappropriate positive energy to start the show with.
1:53.4	I will blame it on the fact that I'm so happy that returning again due to popular demand is Casey.
	...

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