Nebraska Abolishes Death Penalty: Governor Ricketts ‘Appalled’ By Decision


Nebraska has become the first conservative-leaning state in 40 years to abolish the death penalty. According to the Wall Street Journal, the last time the state had used the death penalty was back in 1997.

A veto was put into place earlier this week by Republican Governor Pete Ricketts on a bill that would have made life in prison the toughest penalty for a convicted criminal. But state legislators overrode Ricketts’ veto with a vote of 30-19. Nebraska became the seventh state since 2007 to abolish the death penalty. Others that have repealed the law in recent years include New York, New Jersey, and Maryland. Nebraska also became the first conservative-leaning state to repeal the law since North Dakota did so in 1973.

While the death penalty has been repealed, there are 10 inmates currently on death row who will still face execution. As previously reported by the Inquisitr, one inmate, Michael Ryan, had served nearly 30 years on Nebraska’s death row before dying this past Sunday. A cause of death was not released, but an autopsy has been scheduled.

Despite the lack of using execution as a criminal sentencing, Ricketts hoped to keep it available as an option. But Nebraska had recently run into some issues with receiving the right amount of drugs that would be used during the execution process. There were also some fears that innocent people may be on death row, when they should not be.

Ricketts later took to his Twitter page to give a statement on the abolishing of the death penalty.

Prior to the ruling, Ricketts had penned an opinion piece for the Omaha World-Herald on why Nebraska should keep the death penalty intact.

“If the death penalty is not in place, then an inmate has little concern about receiving a more serious sanction. It is not right to force prison wardens or the correctional system to house inmates without fear of additional sanctions for murders inmates perpetuate within the prison walls.”

But there are those who are in favor of the ruling. One is the state’s executive director for the American Civil Liberties Union, Danielle Conrad, who released a statement, via CNN, on the decision.

“We are a nation that is turning away from the death penalty. This victory stands as a testament to what can happen in our sister states.”

[Image via Twitter]

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