Nebraska's governor signs lethal injection bill

Nebraska's governor has signed a bill to change the state's method of execution from electrocution to lethal injection.

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Nebraska's governor signed a bill to change the state's method of execution from electrocution to lethal injection.

It was the last state to have the electric chair as the sole option for condemned inmates.

Gov. Dave Heineman signed the bill Thursday after the legislature approved it. But before any executions take place, the state will have to develop procedures for lethal injections and the law will be tested in court.

Nebraska had been without a means of execution since February 2008, when the state Supreme Court ruled the electric chair was unconstitutional cruel and unusual punishment.

Several other states still allow electrocutions, but not as the sole death penalty option.

There are 11 men on Nebraska's death row. The last execution was in 1997.