During a special session of the Nebraska legislature,...

During a special session of the Nebraska legislature, members enacted a bill that attempts to bring the state's law into compliance with the Supreme Court's ruling in Ring v. Arizona. The bill requires that a jury find beyond a reasonable doubt that a crime meets one of the state's nine aggravating circumstances before a death sentence is imposed. The legislation was worded to apply retroactively to crimes committed earlier but which have not come to trial. The new law also requires a 3-judge sentencing panel to conduct a pre-sentencing investigation in which other negative information about the defendant may be introduced. The 3-judge panel must be unanimous in order to sentence an inmate to death. Nebraska Governor Mike Johanns signed the changes into law.