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Corrections Officials Defend Release

Corrections Officials Defend Release

Photo: WNAX


Nebraska State Corrections officials say they acted on the best mental evaluation they had received on Nikko Jenkins.
Jenkins was released from prison last summer and then killed four people in Omaha.
State Senator Steve Lathrop heads a special legislative committee looking into the Jenkins release. Lathrop questioned Deputy Corrections Director Larry Wayne about a report urging Corrections to seek civil commitment for Jenkins. . .

Wayne says it’s heartbreaking to think he could have done something to stop the murders.

Assistant Ombudsman Jerall Moreland says the Jenkins case should cause the state to evaluate its treatment of prison inmates. . .


Moreland points out that during the three-and-a-half years Jenkins was in solitary confinement, he didn’t receive any mental health treatment.

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