The controversial, outlawed policy that keeps inmates on Alabama’s death row

Had it not been for an elected Alabama circuit judge in 1996, Kenneth Eugene Smith might not have been put to death with nitrogen gas last week.

That’s because the judge presiding over his trial, N Pride Tompkins, overruled the jury’s 11-to-1 recommendation for a life sentence without parole, rather than the death penalty. Until 2017, when the state legislature outlawed the practice, judges in Alabama had this right.

Despite the practice being outlawed, past cases were not affected.

At the time, Tompkins said he believed Smith deserved the death penalty because of the nature of the crime and because he thought the jury might have been hesitant to sentence him themselves.

“Some people serving on juries, especially on these cases, have never been in court before and they don’t want the responsibility to sentence someone to death,” he told in 2004.