Deep-red Nebraska’s state legislature has just abolished the death penalty, voting to override their governor’s veto. This makes them the first conservative state in decades to ban capital punishment.
Earlier in the week, Gov. Pete Ricketts vetoed the bill. On Wednesday afternoon, the legislature voted 30-19 to override him. The original anti-death penalty legislation passed 32-15.
“This is a matter of public safety,” Ricketts had objected on Tuesday. He claimed that abolishing the death penalty “sends a message to criminals that Nebraska will be soft on crime.”
Nebraska currently has 10 men on death row, according to the AP.
As the LA Times noted, part of the bill’s success stems from a wave of newly-elected Republican senators, whose views on capital punishment differ from their older counterparts.
In recent years, conservatives across the country have reevaluated their approach to criminal justice—including the death penalty. Many now oppose the death penalty, for a variety of reasons–some, like Catholic Sen. Colby Coash of Lincoln, consider it a “pro-life” issue, while others may be swayed by concerns about government error.
“The number of exonerations proves that some people have been wrongly executed,” said Sen. Ernie Chambers, who sponsored the legislation.
The debate is also impacted by the increasing difficulty of securing the drugs used in “humane” lethal injections–a problem currently up for consideration by the Supreme Court.
Not everyone was happy about the decision–like this senator who hurled his belongings into the air in frustration:
“I’m livid, absolutely livid,” he said, as the repeal of capital punishment moved forward, according to newspaper reports.
