LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - A proposal that would let Nebraska officials hide the identities of lethal injection suppliers drew criticism Wednesday from death penalty opponents but support from lawmakers who say the state needs it to resume executions.
It was unclear whether the bill had enough support to overcome a filibuster, but the senator who introduced it said he believes he has a decent chance to advance it through the Legislature.
Sen. John Kuehn of Heartwell said the bill seeks to protect drug makers who would otherwise face public harassment from death penalty opponents. Commonly used lethal injection drugs have become scarce because many North American and European pharmaceutical companies refuse to sell drugs for use in executions.
“I believe the harm created by this disclosure far outweighs any alleged benefit,” said Kuehn, a veterinarian who said he has faced drug shortages in his practice.
Lawmakers began debate on the bill Wednesday but adjourned for the day without voting on it.
Kuehn said concealing the supplier’s identity would allow Nebraska officials to purchase drugs from a domestic supplier, such as a compounding pharmacy, to circumvent the problems associated with importing overseas drugs.
Kuehn said he never wanted to deal with capital punishment when he ran for office, but he views the loss of legitimate drugs as too great a problem. He said the supplier’s identity was irrelevant to the drugs’ quality.
“I truly do believe this is an issue of social justice,” he said.
Opponents said the state should keep its current transparent process that requires the Department of Correctional Services to disclose its suppliers.
Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha, a staunch death penalty opponent, predicted the bill would trigger new appeals and that the courts would make “mincemeat” out of it. Chambers said death penalty supporters should blame themselves for the drug shortage.
“They took something that was wholesome, something designed to promote health, and turned it into a killing substance,” Chambers said.
Nebraska corrections director Scott Frakes has said he has already started to look for drugs to carry out executions, but told a legislative committee in February that it would be “very difficult” to acquire them if the department was forced to identify its suppliers.
Of the 31 states with the death penalty, 15 have enacted similar shield laws.
Gov. Pete Ricketts approved a new lethal injection protocol in January that gives the Department of Correctional Services greater flexibility to choose which drugs are used in executions. An early draft of the protocol included a secrecy provision, but Frakes said department officials removed it after deciding they first needed legislative approval.
Voters signaled their support for the death penalty last year when they overturned the Legislature’s 2015 decision to abolish capital punishment. The issue was placed on the ballot through a referendum partially financed by Ricketts, who supports capital punishment.
Death penalty supporters portrayed the vote as a mandate for state officials to resume executions. Nebraska hasn’t executed an inmate since 1997, using the electric chair. The state has 10 men on death row, but has never carried out the punishment with lethal injection.
“We do not have the right to obstruct justice, and that is what is happening here,” said Sen. Mike Groene of North Platte. Defendants sentenced to death “are the worst of the worst of the human race. They chose their fate.”
Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks of Omaha, a death penalty opponent, said voters never specified whether they supported concealing suppliers’ identities.
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