NACDL News: Criminal Defense Bar Applauds Nebraska Legislature On Repeal of Death Penalty

The Nebraska Legislature overwhelmingly passed legislation on May 21 to repeal the death penalty in that state in favor of life without parole. While there are 10 people on Nebraska’s death row, no one has been executed since 1997. The vote to repeal was 32 to 15 in Nebraska’s 49-seat unicameral legislature, a veto-proof majority. Nonetheless, both prior to and subsequent to the vote, Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts promised to veto the legislation. He made good on that promise on May 26. On May 27, the Nebraska Legislature voted to override Gov. Ricketts’s veto and abolish the death penalty, making Nebraska the 19th state (along with the District of Columbia) to do so.