Nebraska bans execution by electric chair
Most states with death penalties are concerned about how the U.S. Supreme Court will rule regarding the use of the lethal injection cocktail. But Nebraska had no worries there. It has only one method of execution: the electric chair.
But now it has none.
In State v. Mata, the Nebraska Supreme Court found that the use of the electric chair was cruel and unusual punishment, prohibited by the Nebraska constitution.
The Nebraska AG, Jon Bruning, vows to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. One would say this would be fruitless, given the decision was based on state law, and a state’s own high court has the last word on what constitutes state law. But then there’s always that pesky precedent of Bush v. Gore….
