Pro-Death Penalty Referenda Prevail in 3 States; Kansas Retains 4 Justices Attacked for Death Penalty Decisions

Voters in three states approved pro-death penalty ballot questions Tuesday, while in a fourth, voters turned back an effort to oust four Justices who had been criticized for granting defendants relief in capital cases. Amid widespread agreement that California’s death penalty system is broken, the state’s voters rejected Proposition 62, which would have abolished the state’s death penalty and replaced it with life without possibility of parole plus restitution, and narrowly approved a competing ballot initiative, Proposition 66, which seeks to limit state court death penalty appeals and expedite executions. With 99% of precincts reporting, Prop 62 trailed 54%-46%, with 3,964,862 Yes votes and 4,643,413 No votes. Prop 66 prevailed 51%-49%, with 4,203,801 Yes votes and 4,051,749 No votes. Earlier in the day, Nebraska voters, in a closely watched referendum, overturned the state legislature’s repeal of the state’s capital punishment statute and reinstated the death penalty. With 99% percent of precincts reporting, Nebraskans voted in favor of the death penalty by a margin of 61%-39%, casting 443,506 “repeal” votes on Referendum 426 to overturn the legislature’s abolition of the death penalty, against 280,587 “retain” votes to keep the legislative repeal in place. Wednesday morning, Governor Pete Ricketts pledged to take action to carry out executions in Nebraska, while long-time death penalty opponent, State Senator Ernie Chambers, vowed to introduce a new bill in the next legislative session to abolish capital punishment. In Oklahoma, voters by a nearly 2-1 margin approved State Question 776, which constitutionalizes the state legislature’s power to adopt any execution method not prohibited by the U.S. Constitution and prevents Oklahoma’s state courts from declaring the death penalty cruel and unusual punishment. With 100% of precincts reporting, Question 776 prevailed 66%-34%, with 941,336 Yes votes and 477,057 No votes. The death penalty was also a central focus in judicial retention elections in Kansas, where pro-death penalty groups targeted four justices of the state supreme court and spent more than $1 million in an attempt to oust them for their votes overturning several Kansas death sentences. Voters retained all four Justices. Chief Justice Lawton Nuss, speaking on behalf of the challenged justices, said “The supreme court’s ability to make decisions based on the rule of law—and the people’s constitution—has been preserved.” Ryan Wright of Kansans for Fair Courts, which opposed the efforts to remove the Justices, added “Kansans have sent a very clear message … : hands off our court.”

(J. Ollua, “California voters reject measure to repeal death penalty, approve plan to expedite it,” Los Angeles Times, November 9, 2016; P. Hammel, “Nebraskans vote overwhelmingly to restore death penalty, nullify historic 2015 vote by state Legislature,” Omaha World-Herald, November 9, 2016; J. Duggan, “With death penalty reinstated in Nebraska, Ricketts to focus on carrying it out,” Omaha World-Herald, November 9, 2016; State Question 776: “Oklahoma voters reaffirmed their support of capital punishment,” Tulsa World, November 8, 2016; S. Zeff, “All Kansas Supreme Court Justices Retained,” KCUR, November 9, 2016.) See Recent Legislative Activity.