In a deci­sion vacat­ing the death penal­ty for Nebraska death row inmate Charles Jess Palmer, U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Bataillon declared that elec­tro­cu­tion is uncon­sti­tu­tion­al. Bataillon wrote, ​“In light of evi­dence and evolv­ing stan­dards of decen­cy, the court would find that a death penal­ty sen­tence imposed on a defen­dant in a state that pro­vides elec­tro­cu­tion as its only method of exe­cu­tion is an unnec­es­sary and wan­ton inflic­tion of pain.” Nebraska is the only state that main­tains elec­tro­cu­tion as its sole method of exe­cu­tion. Bataillon’s rul­ing also stat­ed that the U.S. Supreme Court’s deci­sion in Ring v. Arizona — which held that it is uncon­sti­tu­tion­al to have a judge, rather than a jury, decide eli­gi­bil­i­ty for a death sen­tence — is retroac­tive and applies to Palmer’s case. The judge fur­ther decried the lengthy peri­od of time Palmer has spent on death row. Palmer remains incar­cer­at­ed with a sen­tence of life impris­on­ment. (Lincoln Journal Star, October 10, 2003) See Methods of Execution, Ring v. Arizona, and Life Without Parole.

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