Nebraska Governor Signs Bill Changing Method of Execution to Lethal Injection

On May 28, Nebraska​’s Governor Dave Heineman signed a bill chang­ing the state’s method of exe­cu­tion from elec­tro­cu­tion to lethal injec­tion. Nebraska had been with­out a legal method of exe­cu­tion since February 2008 when the state’s Supreme Court found the elec­tric chair uncon­sti­tu­tion­al. Before exe­cu­tions in the state can resume, Nebraska still needs to devel­op pro­ce­dures for lethal injec­tions and the new law will be test­ed in court. Nebraska was the last state to have the elec­tric chair as its sole means of execution. 

(J. Funk, ​“Nebraska’s gov­er­nor signs lethal injec­tion bill,” Associated Press, May 28, 2009). Nebraska has not car­ried out an exe­cu­tion since 1997. There are 10 inmates on death row. There have been 3 exe­cu­tions since the death penal­ty was rein­stat­ed in 1973. See Recent Legislative Activity and Lethal Injection.