Death penalty repeal headed for full Nebraska legislature

It may be the first time in decades for Omaha Sen. Ernie Chambers. His bill that would do away with the death penalty in favor of life without parole for capital murder cases got unanimous support from seven other members of the Judiciary Committee, on its way to the full Legislature for debate. More than a dozen testifiers in support of the bill (LB268) at the March 4 hearing cited the expense of the death penalty and its lack of deterrent effect. A number of family members of murder victims talked about how the death penalty divided those families and put them in purgatory as the murderers' cases dragged on and on without resolution. They said arbitrary distinctions are drawn in Nebraska courts between who gets the death penalty and who gets life in prison. As of Monday, 11 senators had added their names to the bill, a number of them conservative Republicans. [Joanne Young, Lincoln Journal-Star]