Nebraska lawmakers vote to repeal death penalty
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By a 32-15 vote, Nebraska lawmakers on Wednesday agreed to abolish the death penalty, which has not been imposed in the state since 1997.
The margin by which the bill passed in the unicameral state legislature is more than sufficient to override a promised veto by Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts, assuming that lawmakers vote the same way when the override vote is held, the Omaha World-Herald reports. A total of 30 votes would be required to override Ricketts’ expected veto of Legislative Bill 268.
The bill replaces capital punishment with a life prison term, the Lincoln Journal Star reports. “Under current Nebraska law, a sentence of life imprisonment is effectively life imprisonment without parole,” said the state’s attorney general, Doug Peterson, in an opinion letter requested by a state senator.
The Associated Press, USA Today and WOWT also have stories. An earlier New York Times (reg. req.) article provides more details.
The legislative push to end capital punishment in Nebraska is unusual because it is powered by conservatives rather than liberals, the articles note. Supporters of the bill cited religious and cost objections, as well as unwillingness to trust the government to impose the death penalty appropriately.
“It’s certainly a matter of conscience, at least in part, but it’s also a matter of trying to be philosophically consistent,” said Laure Ebke, a Republican state senator from Crete. “If government can’t be trusted to manage our health care … then why should it be trusted to carry out the irrevocable sentence of death?”
Maryland was the last state to abolish the death penalty, in 2013. Thirty-two states and the federal government still provide for the ultimate punishment of some convicted criminals.
