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Biden Has 65 Days Left in Office. Here’s What He Can Do on Criminal Justice.

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Judicial appointments and the death penalty are among areas where a lame-duck administration can still leave a mark. Donald Trump’s second presidential term will begin on Jan. 20, bringing with it promises to dramatically reshape many aspects of the criminal justice system. The U.S. Senate — with its authority over confirming judicial nominees — will also shift from Democratic to Republican control.
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'Our plan is to proceed with the executions,' Ricketts says of 10 men on death row

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Governor Pete Ricketts
LINCOLN — Gov. Pete Ricketts said Friday that despite the repeal of Nebraska’s death penalty, the state will not cancel its order for new drugs to carry out a lethal injection execution.

Ricketts said he agrees with the state attorney general that Nebraska, once it receives the drugs, should be able to execute the 10 men currently on death row.


"Our plan is to proceed with the executions," the governor said, at a press conference marking the end of the 2015 legislative session.

Ricketts said he had no timetable for when the lethal injection drugs purchased by the state from a broker in India will arrive in Nebraska.

Under Legislative Bill 268, the death penalty would be repealed, effective in three months, and replaced by life in prison.

State Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha, the chief sponsor of the law, said that while the Legislature cannot change the death sentences of those already on death row, LB 268 removed the statutory means for conducting an execution.

That, he said, leaves the 10 men on death row with a death sentence, but no way to carry it out.

The Attorney General’s Office earlier had generally agreed with that analysis, but on Friday, Attorney General Doug Peterson said that upon further review of court cases, he believes there remains a legal controversy over what happens to the 10.


Source: Omaha.com, Paul Hammel, May 29, 2015

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Location: Nebraska, USA
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