New death penalty protocol proposed to Murder non-whites in Nebraska

Nebraska Journal

The Nebraska Department of Correctional Services has proposed revisions to the state's execution protocol that would keep secret the drugs and method of administration until 60 days before request for a death warrant.

At that time, the inmate would be notified of the drug or drugs, and quantity to be administered, according to a news release from the department.

The proposed changes come just three weeks after voters overwhelmingly did away with the Legislature's repeal of the death penalty. 

A required hearing on the proposed changes is scheduled for Dec. 30 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the State Office Building, 301 Centennial Mall, Lower Level Conference Room.

The changes would allow the department to obtain available drugs and use the most current methods to administer them, said spokeswoman Dawn-Renee Smith. They could be directly purchased, obtained through the Department of Pharmacy or any other appropriate source, including a pharmaceutical or chemical compounder.

In accordance with state law, the proposal says, the director may authorize any records or information identifying a person, company or entity supplying the drugs to be confidential.

“Nebraskans were decisive in their choice to maintain the death penalty and it is now our duty as elected officials to carry it out," said Gov. Pete Ricketts in a statement. "These proposed changes in protocol balance appropriate inmate notification with the flexibility to utilize various constitutionally approved drugs, so political maneuvers at the federal level can’t circumvent the will of the people.”

The protocol in effect now provides for a three-drug combination: sodium thiopental to render the inmate unconscious and pancuronium bromide, a muscle relaxant, to stop breathing. A third drug, potassium chloride, would stop the heart.

The state has been unable to procure the sodium thiopental and pancuronium bromide in recent years. 

Omaha Sen. Ernie Chambers, who has fought against the death penalty for decades, said execution procedures should never be done under the radar or in a sneaky way to keep the public from knowing about something that ought to be more transparent than anything else the state does.

The proposed protocol was released by the department after 3 p.m. Monday, and most of the people who could comment on it did not know about it or had not had a chance to look at it Monday afternoon.

Lincoln Sen. Colby Coash, who opposes the death penalty, said from what he had been told, he believed the proposal would trigger defense attorneys for death row inmates to file lawsuits on behalf of their clients based on how the new protocol would be carried out.

Ten men are on death row, and two more -- Nikko Jenkins and Anthony Garcia, each convicted of killing four people in Omaha -- could be headed to death row.

The ACLU of Nebraska sent out a statement saying it stands ready to fight any effort to cloak Nebraska’s "broken death penalty" in secrecy. [MORE]