Policies: CAPITAL PUNISHMENT

In 1972, the United States Supreme Court in Furman V. Georgia ruled that the arbitrary and inconsistent imposition of the death penalty violated the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments of the US Constitution and constituted cruel and unusual punishment. Thirty-seven states (including Nebraska) enacted new legislation addressing the Death Penalty that sought to overcome the constitutional defects of the earlier laws and by 1976 the Supreme Court again had upheld the constitutionality of the revised death penalty statutes.

Capital Punishment in Nebraska

All executions in Nebraska since 1903 have taken place within the Nebraska State Penitentiary. Prior to 1903, executions were handled in the county where the offense took place. From 1903 to 1913, the means of execution was by Hanging. Since 1913, it has been by the Electric Chair. A total of 8 inmates were executed by hanging and 15 inmates by means of the electric chair. (23 Total) There have been approximately 68 inmates housed on Death Row from 1903 to the Present.

Death Row in Nebraska was housed at the Penitentiary from 1903 to 2002 when it was transferred to the Tecumseh State Correctional Institution. Executions still take place at the Penitentiary. Inmates who receive an execution date would be transferred to the NSP approximately within a week of that date and would be housed in the Penitentiary hospital on what is called the "Death Watch." While on the Death Watch, condemned inmates may have special visits from family, friends, religious representatives and attorneys. The visits are supervised by staff assigned to the "Death Watch" and take place in the suite of rooms set aside for the condemned inmates. Inmates may also request a special "last meal." Such meals must be prepared from food supplies on hand at the Prison.

The Death Chamber is located in the basement of the Nebraska State Penitentiary. There are a series of rooms including a Viewing Room, Power Room and the room that houses the Electric Chair itself.

State statutes provide for ten witnesses to an execution-typically six representing the state, three selected by the inmate plus a religious representative selected by the inmate. The Department historically since 1994 has authorized media representatives to be the "state" witnesses. In 1997, the husband of one of the people killed by inmate Robert Williams was authorized by the Department to serve as a victim witness to Williams' execution.

One of the issues regarding the use of the electric chair is whether the inmate feels any pain or discomfort when the execution procedure is applied. Some experts would argue that the voltage applied renders instant unconsciousness; others suggest that that is not the case.

Some Noteworthy Capital Cases

Inmate Albert Price #5374 was the last inmate hanged (3/21/13). While serving another sentence, he received the Death Penalty for stabbing the Penitentiary Deputy Warden to death in the Chapel in 1912. Emil Muzik #6550 received the death penalty in 1915 but his sentence was commuted. He spent the rest of his life in Prison (45 years). It is believed that he was the last inmate buried in the prison cemetery (1960). Inmates Cole #7298 and Grammer #7299 were the first inmates to be executed in the electric chair and also the only inmates to date to be executed on the same day, (12/20/20). Inmate King #7551 was serving another sentence and received the death penalty for killing a prison correctional officer. He was executed in 1922. Perhaps Nebraska's most infamous inmate was Charles Starkweather #20396 who was executed in 1959 after murdering ten people in a rampage in 1958. Inmate Jeremy Sheets #50100 was given the death penalty for his alleged involvement in the murder of an Omaha student. His sentence was vacated because of constitutional problems (the testimony used to convict him came from a person who committed suicide and thus Sheets "could not confront his accuser" as permitted in the U.S. Constitution). He is perhaps the only capital inmate to be directly released from prison from Death Row.

The Department of Corrections has no official opinion on the Death Penalty. Its duty is to carry out the statutes and court orders of the State. Many private citizens do have an opinion on the Death Penalty either for or against. Approximately 38 states and the Federal Government have death penalty statutes. In Nebraska, it normally takes more than murder with premeditation to be given the Death Penalty. One or more aggravating circumstances typically have to be present. Mitigating circumstances typically preclude the death sentence.

Some people feel that spending one's entire life in prison without any hope of eventual release is more severe punishment than execution. Others feel that inmates, despite a life sentence behind bars still have privileges they can enjoy and their incarceration still costs the taxpayer money and that execution is more appropriate punishment.

Legal Proceedings

Nebraska law regarding Capital cases was recently changed due to a U.S. Supreme Court case that requires juries rather than judges to determine if the death penalty is appropriate in a First Degree Murder case. Prior to that time, typically a three judge panel would review a case after a defendant was found guilty of Murder in the First Degree and determine if one or more aggravating circumstances outweighed any mitigating circumstances. If an aggravating circumstance was preponderant, the three-judge panel could apply the death penalty. If a mitigating circumstance was preponderant, the defendant would be sentenced to Life Imprisonment. Now jurors are involved in that decision.

In Nebraska, defendants in legal proceedings in Capital Cases can appeal a wide variety of issues including, jury bias, ineffective counsel, racial/ethnic discrimination, legality of the Electric Chair and legality of Capital Punishment itself.

Appeals can be filed with both the Nebraska State Courts and the Federal Courts.

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