Sixteen Nebraska state lawmakers are being sued by the state's attorney general in order to stop the head of the Department of Corrections from testifying about the department's lethal injection protocol.
The lawsuit was filed Tuesday by Attorney General Doug Peterson on behalf of Nebraska Department of Correctional Services Director Scott Frakes.
The lawsuit is an attempt to block a subpoena from the Legislature's Judiciary Committee. The subpoena came after a complaint by Omaha state Senator Ernie Chambers, who is a vocal opponent of the death penalty.
Chambers says that the department's new execution protocol, which has never been used in the United States before, is unconstitutional. Chambers also questions whether state officials followed protocol when putting it into place.
Peterson's lawsuit alleges that the subpoena for Frakes to testify is unlawful. Those name in the lawsuit are as follows:
- Senator Laura Ebke, Chairperson of the Judiciary Committee of the Nebraska Legislature
- Senator Dan Watermeier
- Senator Ernie Chambers
- Senator Roy Baker
- Senator Matt Hansen
- Senator Bob Krist
- Senator Adam Morfeld
- Senator Patty Pansing Brooks
- Senator Steve Halloran
- Senator Kate Bolz
- Senator Sue Crawford
- Senator Dan Hughes
- Senator John Kuehn
- Senator Tyson Larson
- Senator John McCollister
- Senator Jim Scheer
- Patrick J. O’Donnell, Clerk of the Nebraska Legislature