Staff Reports
The lawsuit filed by the spiritual adviser of a soon-to-be-executed inmate is just another example of the left trying to play the victim card and push their liberal agenda. The Rev. Jeff Hood, spiritual adviser to death row inmate Kenneth Eugene Smith, is crying foul over the restrictions placed on him during Smith’s upcoming execution via nitrogen gas.
While the Alabama Department of Corrections has merely expressed concern for the good Reverend’s health if he’s within three feet of Smith’s gas mask, Hood is claiming it’s a violation of his religious rights. But come on, the state is just trying to make sure nobody gets hurt! It’s not like they’re intentionally trying to be hostile to religion. In fact, they’ve allowed pastors to pray with inmates and even touch them during executions, as mandated by the Supreme Court.
Nitrogen gas is 78% of the air we all breathe, so it’s not like they’re using some crazy experimental method here. It’s a painless and humane procedure, despite what Hood and his lawyers are trying to argue. Plus, they’ve asked him to sign a waiver acknowledging the potential risks, which shows that the state is just being cautious. But of course, Hood is spinning it as if they’re expecting something to go wrong.
Hood is claiming that the restrictions placed on him will impede his ability to minister to Smith during his final moments, denying the prisoner his chosen spiritual adviser’s touch. But at the end of the day, Smith was sentenced to death for a heinous murder-for-hire killing, so why should he get special treatment? It’s not like he showed any mercy to his victim, Alabama native Elizabeth Sennett.
