Nebraska and Mississippi
Posted: February 08, 2008
Nebraska
Supreme Court Rules Electrocution Unconstitutional
The Nebraska Supreme Court ruled on February 8, 2008, that electrocution is cruel
and unusual punishment under the state's constitution, outlawing the electric chair in the only state
that still used it as its sole means of execution.
Kennedy
Brewer, who spent 12 years on Mississippi’s
death row for the 1992 murder and rape of his girlfriend’s 3-year-old
daughter, has been exonerated of the charges, and another man, Justin
Johnson, has been arrested for the same crime. A 2001 investigation by
the Innocence Project found that the semen on the victim’s body did not
match Brewer’s DNA, but did match Johnson’s. Johnson was a suspect
early in the case, and his blood was collected and preserved in the
Mississippi State Crime Laboratory for more than 10 years. (H. Mohr, “Man
charged in child slaying for which another sentenced to death,” Associated Press,
February 7, 2008).
See also Innocence and 127: Kennedy Brewer.
The Nebraska Supreme Court ruled on February 8, 2008, that electrocution is cruel
and unusual punishment under the state's constitution, outlawing the electric chair in the only state
that still used it as its sole means of execution.
In the landmark ruling, the court said the state legislature may vote to have a death penalty, just not one that offends rights under the state constitution. The evidence shows that electrocution inflicts "intense pain and agonizing suffering," it said.
"Condemned prisoners must
not be tortured to death, regardless of their crimes," Judge William
Connolly wrote in the 6-1 opinion. (N. Jenkins, "Court:
Nebraska Electric Chair Not Legal" Associated Press, February 8,
2008).
Read the Nebraska
Supreme Court Decision, see also Methods
of Execution and Botched
Executions.
Kennedy
Brewer, who spent 12 years on Mississippi’s
death row for the 1992 murder and rape of his girlfriend’s 3-year-old
daughter, has been exonerated of the charges, and another man, Justin
Johnson, has been arrested for the same crime. A 2001 investigation by
the Innocence Project found that the semen on the victim’s body did not
match Brewer’s DNA, but did match Johnson’s. Johnson was a suspect
early in the case, and his blood was collected and preserved in the
Mississippi State Crime Laboratory for more than 10 years. (H. Mohr, “Man
charged in child slaying for which another sentenced to death,” Associated Press,
February 7, 2008). See also Innocence and 127: Kennedy Brewer.