UPDATE: The repeal bill unan­i­mous­ly passed out of the Judiciary Committee on Mar. 9. Earlier: At a Nebraska leg­isla­tive hear­ing on March 4, dozens of peo­ple tes­ti­fied in favor of abol­ish­ing the death penal­ty, includ­ing rep­re­sen­ta­tives from fam­i­lies of mur­der vic­tims, from law enforce­ment, the judi­cia­ry, and Nebraska Conservatives Concerned about the Death Penalty. Among the co-spon­sors of the bill to replace the death penal­ty with life with­out parole are sev­en Republican leg­is­la­tors. Jim Davidsaver, a retired Lincoln police cap­tain, sub­mit­ted tes­ti­mo­ny say­ing, “[M]y pro­fes­sion­al expe­ri­ence has shown me that our state’s death penal­ty does not make us any safer. Its exor­bi­tant cost actu­al­ly detracts from pro­grams that would pro­mote the over­all health, safe­ty and wel­fare of our com­mu­ni­ties.” Elle Hanson, who lost three loved ones to mur­der, said the death penal­ty was applied arbi­trar­i­ly, ​“I want to share the pain and out­rage I feel when I hear politi­cians say that we need the death penal­ty for the worst of the worst. This is an absurd notion. I guar­an­tee you, each of our loss­es is the worst of the worst.” Sen. Ernie Chambers (pic­tured) of Omaha, who intro­duced the bill, said he expects it to be debat­ed by the full leg­is­la­ture this ses­sion. Only one per­son, a County Attorney, tes­ti­fied against the bill.

(J. Young, ​“Supporters of elim­i­nat­ing Nebraska’s death penal­ty turn out at hear­ing,” Lincoln Journal Star, March 5, 2015). See New Voices and Recent Legislation.

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