Louisiana lawmakers approve using nitrogen gas, electric chair in executions

Bidding to resume Louisiana executions after a 14-year pause, the state’s Republican-dominated Legislature gave final passage to a bill Thursday to add electrocution and the use of nitrogen gas as means of administering the death penalty. The legislation comes one day after the country’s most recent execution in Texas and a failed attempt in Idaho, both by lethal injection. The bill now heads to the desk of Gov. Jeff Landry, a tough-on-crime Republican who has signaled his support for the measure. Amid ongoing challenges over obtaining lethal injection drugs, Louisiana’s...