Nebraska Legislature Repeals Death Penalty With Enough Votes To Override Expected Veto

Nebraska’s unicameral legislature voted 32-15 to abolish the death penalty in the state on Wednesday. Stunningly, the bill not only passed, but it cleared the 30 vote threshold needed to override an anticipated veto from Republican Governor Pete Ricketts. Death penalty supporters attempted to filibuster the legislation, but the filibuster was ended by a decisive 34-14 vote cutting off debate. The legislature then passed the measure ending the death penalty, and replacing it with a maximum sentence of life in prison, on a 32-15 vote.

The vote in Nebraska’s nominally non-partisan legislature, brought anti-choice wingnuts and reform-oriented liberals together, in a united effort to end the death penalty in one of the nation’s most politically wingnut states. Senator Tammy Garrett (Bellevue) argued:

I’m pro-life from conception until when dog calls somebody home. I’m not going to quibble over innocent life versus those who are guilty for what they have done. This is a matter of conscience.

Senator Ernie Chambers (Omaha), an African-American lawmaker who was first elected to the Nebraska legislature in 1970, and who has fought tirelessly to end the death penalty for decades, said:

We got the state out of the killing business today.

Chambers also expressed confidence that lawmakers would stick to their positions and override the inevitable upcoming veto from Governor Ricketts.

The Nebraska legislature also voted to abolish the state’s death penalty in 1979, but then Governor Charles Thone (R) vetoed the bill, and Chambers was unable to round up the 30 votes needed to override the veto. It appears that this time, he has the votes to override a veto.

Given that the measure passed with just 32 votes, death penalty proponents can still cling to slim hopes that a handful of lawmakers will shift their votes and allow Governor Ricketts’ forthcoming veto to stand. Pro-death penalty lawmakers did not express optimism, however.  A disappointed Senator Jim Scheer (Norfolk) lamented:

I really think that people voted their conscience today. People’s consciences don’t change.

Nebraska, however, is changing. The deep red state made history on Wednesday. Senator Chambers remarked during the debate:

The record should be crystal clear on what it is we are doing, it is historic. We have the opportunity to take one small step for the legislature, a giant leap for civilization.

Provided the legislature holds firm and overrides the governor’s veto, it will actually be a giant leap for the state’s conservative legislature and one small step for civilization, towards abolishing the death penalty everywhere. Regardless of whether other states followed suit, what the Nebraska legislature did on Wednesday was indeed historic.