Nebraska Law | Examining Lethal Injection

Curt Bright Author

02/10/2021 Added

140 Plays

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Professor Eric Berger examines the reasons why states that employ lethal injection have difficulty doing so.

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[00:00:00.232](dramatic music)
[00:00:04.890]Courts approach lethal injection cases quite differently
[00:00:08.310]than they approach typical cases.
[00:00:10.010]In a typical case, a court will defer
[00:00:13.300]to the political branches
[00:00:14.880]because of its superior political authority
[00:00:18.130]and its superior expertise.
[00:00:20.270]But what we're seeing in lethal injection cases
[00:00:22.570]is states have neither political authority nor expertise.
[00:00:27.000]These protocols are designed by unelected officials
[00:00:31.520]usually acting in secret
[00:00:33.140]and without oversight from elected officials,
[00:00:36.060]and they often don't understand the drugs
[00:00:38.600]or the risks of the procedures they're putting together.
[00:00:41.320]So what's interesting is that courts are deferring to them
[00:00:45.470]because they're the government,
[00:00:47.740]but the reasons for deference
[00:00:50.440]that typically justify judicial deference aren't appearing
[00:00:54.210]in these cases.
[00:00:55.656](dramatic music)
[00:01:02.590]So my current project is looking
[00:01:04.050]at the difficulty states are having
[00:01:05.940]in carrying out executions,
[00:01:07.350]even though courts are routinely blessing
[00:01:09.440]what they're doing.
[00:01:10.430]Many different actors are getting in the way here.
[00:01:12.550]Drug companies aren't selling their drugs.
[00:01:14.500]Institutional investors are pressuring drug companies
[00:01:17.030]so they don't sell their drugs.
[00:01:18.490]Doctors and nurses don't wanna participate.
[00:01:20.920]Foreign governments aren't letting drug companies there
[00:01:24.400]export their drugs to the U.S. for use in executions.
[00:01:27.280]So what the states are finding is a lot of things completely
[00:01:30.200]out of their control are making it difficult
[00:01:32.470]to carry out executions.
[00:01:34.152](dramatic music)
[00:01:41.330]I hope my research calls attention
[00:01:44.770]to the various mistakes states make
[00:01:47.920]when they put together lethal injection protocols
[00:01:50.650]to their lack of expertise, to their lack of transparency,
[00:01:54.640]to the lack of oversight,
[00:01:56.530]and to the dangers those protocols create,
[00:01:59.240]which really result in a serious risk
[00:02:01.950]of excruciating pain for the inmates.
[00:02:05.430]At Nebraska Law, we have such a talented and supportive
[00:02:09.900]and engaged faculty,
[00:02:11.740]and it's just a wonderful community
[00:02:13.590]to be a scholar and a teacher in.
[00:02:15.320](dramatic music)

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Nebraska Law | Examining Lethal Injection

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