Developments regarding Nebraska and North Carolina execution protocols

Developments regarding Nebraska and North Carolina execution protocols:

• Nebraska's sole use of electric chair still constitutional: AP notes here that the US Supreme Court has refused to hear an appeal by Nebraska death row inmate Carey Dean Moore challenging the constitutionality of that state's use of the electric chair for executions. The Nebraska death-penalty law stipulates electrocution as the sole means of execution.
• Role of doctors in NC executions still in question/ state legislators renew call for suspension of executions: AP notes here that two inmates scheduled for execution in North Carolina in the next ten days filed challenges yesterday alleging that proper implementation of the state's lethal-injection protocol requiring a doctor's involvment can no longer be guaranteed now that the NC Board of Medical Examiners has issued a new guideline allowing a doctor's presence at an execution, but disallowing any actual participation, including any response to problems that occur during the execution procedure. Today, 30 NC state legislators sent a letter to Gov. Mike Easley asking him to suspend executions until questions over use of lethal injection are resolved.
  • Earlier post on North Carolina's use of a Bispectral Index Monitor to measure levels of consciousness during executions is here.