Neb. protocol to carry out death penalty proposed
By JEAN ORTIZ
The Associated PressMonday, Sep 28, 2009 - 08:15:51 pm CDT
Nebraska officials on Monday unveiled a proposed protocol for carrying out the state's new lethal-injection law, one they believe is legally sound.

"This represents what we believe is the best procedure for lethal injection," said Robert Houston, director of the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services. "As the department has done for the past century, we will maintain dignity for everybody."

In May, Nebraska lawmakers and Gov. Dave Heineman approved legislation making lethal injection the means of executing the state's condemned killers. It replaces electrocution, which the state Supreme Court in February 2008 ruled was cruel and unusual punishment.

The law took effect Sept. 1, but a protocol must be established before anyone could be executed. The attorney general and governor must approve the protocol before it takes effect. Corrections officials have worked closely with those offices to craft their proposal, Houston said.

Eleven people are on Nebraska's death row, but experts have said they don't expect an execution in the state for several years. Nebraska's last execution was in 1997.

Nebraska officials looked to other states, including Kentucky and Texas, in assembling the proposed protocol in which three drugs are used: sodium thiopental to render the inmate unconscious, pancuronium bromide to paralyze the inmate's breathing and potassium chloride to stop the heart.

The Kentucky protocol was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court last year.

Nebraska's proposed protocol lays out specific responsibilities for all involved in executions. The prison warden, for example, would be responsible for ensuring the inmate is unconscious after the first drug is administered.

Plans call for members of the execution team to train once every six months. Once an execution date has been set, the team would train at least weekly.

A public hearing on the proposed protocol is set for Nov. 16 in Lincoln. A final protocol could be drafted within a few weeks after the hearing.

Considering the training involved and other changes needed to prepare the execution chamber at the Nebraska State Penitentiary, Houston estimated it would likely be next spring or summer before corrections officials are ready to carry out a death sentence.

On the Net:

Nebraska Department of Correctional Services: http://www.corrections.state.ne.us/