The New York Times is reporting that the electric chair is "cruel and unusual punishment," suspending executions there until the state can find a more humane way to kill prisoners:
The electric chair is cruel and unusual punishment, the Nebraska Supreme Court ruled Friday, effectively suspending executions in the only state that made sole use of the practice, once the dominant form of execution in the United States. The court, in a 6-to-1 decision, ruled that electrocution, the only method of execution used in the state, violates the state constitution. "The evidence shows that electrocution inflicts intense pain and agonizing suffering," Justice William Connolly wrote for the majority.
The state's attorney general, Jon Bruning, said he would "move to the legislative process to get a new method of execution." Working on a clean slate, Nebraska may opt for a form of lethal injection that does not rely on the combination of three chemicals that is the subject of a pending challenge in the United States Supreme Court. Indeed, it may explore entirely different methods of executions.
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