The Secrets of the Killing State
October 29, 2025 | 12:00-1:00 p.m.
Lethal injection is nothing like what people think.
This is its untold story.
In the popular imagination, lethal injection is a slight pinch and a swift nodding off to forever-sleep. It is performed by well-qualified medical professionals. It is regulated and carefully conducted. And it is the most “humane” form of capital punishment. In reality, not one of these statements is true. In this presentation, Professor Corinna Lain pulls back the curtain of secrecy, presenting a view of lethal injection that states have worked hard to hide. The story of lethal injection is a story of state law-breaking and cover-ups, fake science and torturous drugs, gross incompetence by woefully inept executioners, and a stunning state indifference to the plight of the prisoners who are executed. Lain’s meticulously researched and utterly compelling exposé aims to prick the American conscience, spark outrage, and serve as a catalyst for important conversations about the propriety of state killing itself.
This presentation will be given by Professor Corinna Barrett Lain, S.D. Roberts & Sandra Moore Professor of Law, University of Richmond School of Law, one of the nation’s leading authorities on the death penalty.
This lecture is approved for 1.0 continuing education credit in Nebraska.
Questions? Contact Katie Pfannenstiel at kabp@unl.edu or (402) 472-8382