Nebraska considering a controversial execution method

Nebraska would join three other states—Alabama, Oklahoma and Mississippi—if legislators approve the use of nitrogen hypoxia as a method of execution. It’s a relatively new way to execute someone, as Alabama first used it late last month. That case was cited by both supporters and opponents to the bill LB970.

The United Nations has expressed concern for this method, labeling it as a potential form of torture.

Julia Keown, a critical care and forensic nurse, was one of the opponents to the bill, citing the Alabama execution in her testimony.

“We don't know when consciousness ends. So it's entirely possible that because your brainstem is intact, because your spinal cord is intact, all of your peripheral nerves are intact that from 7:58 p.m. to 8:27,” she said in reference to the Alabama case, “It is very possible that [he was] feeling pain that entire 27 minutes, regardless of whether he was conscious or not. He could have been feeling pain.”

State Sen. Loren Lippincott, R-Central City, said it is a “more humane” form of execution than other options.

“Adopting nitrogen hypoxia and allowing condemned killers to elect this method of execution will either expose their litigation games for what they have been, or it will provide them the humane death that they have claimed to be pursuing,” he said.

The bill defines nitrogen hypoxia as inhaling pure nitrogen until death. It would not end the use of lethal injection as capital punishment, rather add nitrogen hypoxia as an optional method. Lippincott cited the Alabama use of the method for the first time Jan. 25 as a model for the state.

Lippincott said lethal injection chemicals are becoming harder to obtain, with some challenges in their administration in the past. Importing the drugs to the U.S. for executions has also been limited. Several other states are also considering the use of nitrogen hypoxia as a method of execution.

Nebraska currently has 11 people on death row and is one of 27 states with capital punishment. If legislators approve a proposed constitutional amendment that would replace the death penalty with life in prison, voters would decide on that in the 2024 election.