Nebraska lawmakers approve lethal injection bill

Nebraska lawmakers have approved a bill giving the state the legal means to carry out its death penalty.

The bill would change the method of execution from electrocution to lethal injection. It passed on a 34-12 vote Thursday.

It now goes to Gov. Dave Heineman, who has said he supports the change.

Nebraska has been without a means of execution since February 2008 when the state Supreme Court ruled the electric chair was unconstitutional because it amounted to cruel and unusual punishment.

Nebraska was the only state with electrocution as its sole means of execution.

11 men are on death row; the last execution was in 1997.

Source: Associated Press, May 29, 2009

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