Dec. 25 NEBRASKA: Senator: Next year could be 'best chance' to repeal death penalty Omaha Sen. Ernie Chambers stood stoically on the legislative floor last session after his bill to repeal the death penalty was defeated by 1 vote. Arms crossed, he had a message for fellow senators: "I have another year." The session that starts Jan. 9 might be "the best chance Nebraska would have to repeal" the death penalty, said Grand Island Sen. Ray Aguilar, who changed his mind about the state's ultimate punishment last year. In a pre-session survey by The Associated Press, 10 of the 49 senators said they supported repealing the death penalty versus 6 last year. 22 said they opposed a repeal, versus 29 last year. 2 were unsure, and 15 senators including Chambers didn't respond to the survey. Term limits will force Chambers out after the session that begins in January, and he's made it clear that wiping capital punishment from state statutes is his career-long goal. He's expected to try again this year but needs at least 30 votes to override an expected veto from Republican Gov. Dave Heineman. "That's kind of his baby," Aguilar said of Chambers' fight. "This will be his strongest presentation yet." Timing might be on Chambers' side. The nation's last execution was Sept. 25 in Texas. Since then, executions have been delayed pending a U.S. Supreme Court decision on whether execution by lethal injection violates the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment. New Jersey's legislature voted this month to abolish the death penalty, joining 13 other states with no death penalty law. "I think we've moved on," said Sen. Gwen Howard of Omaha, who supports repealing the death penalty. "I think that's certainly the direction we've been headed." Howard said she meets fewer people in her district opposed to the death penalty and finds more who are concerned about how it is applied. Nebraska is the only state that uses the electric chair as its sole means of execution. Senators also were asked in the AP survey whether they support changing the state's method of execution to lethal injection. 19 senators said yes, 5 said no and 9 said they were unsure or did not answer. "I think lethal injection would have a better chance of not being found 'cruel and unusual punishment,'" wrote Sen. Russ Karpisek of Wilber, explaining his support of such a change. Sen. Kent Rogert of Tekamah said he's not convinced that "state-sanctioned killing" is ever a good thing and would vote to repeal the death penalty. But he'd also vote to change the method to lethal injection. "We definitely need a more humane method," Rogert wrote. Last year during debate on the death penalty, Sen. Mike Flood of Norfolk recalled the 2002 Norfolk bank killings when arguing for the death penalty. 3 of the 4 killers are on death row. This year, another shooting spree will find its way into the debate. "Execution should remain available as the maximum penalty for heinous crimes committed against persons," Sen. John Nelson of Omaha wrote in his survey response. "8 murders by a callous man at Westroads Mall is an example." Aguilar changed his mind about the death penalty during the debate last year after listening to testimony about how the death penalty is applied differently to minorities. He became convinced that more minorities are executed, and that more prosecutors request the death penalty for minorities and poor people "Indigent people can't afford ... good lawyers and get off," Aguilar said. 3 people - Harold Otey, John Joubert and Robert Williams - have been put to death in Nebraska since executions were resumed in 1994. 9 men now sit on Nebraska's death row. On the Net: Nebraska Legislature: http://www.nebraskalegislature.gov ************ Nebraska's death penalty Nebraska's 49 state senators were asked the following questions about the death penalty and method of execution. 1. Should the death penalty be repealed? Yes: 10 (Aguilar, Dierks, Howard, Johnson, Kopplin, Kruse, McGill, Nantkes, Pedersen, Rogert) No: 22 (Adams, Carlson, Christensen, Cornett, Erdman, Engel, Fischer, Flood, Friend, Fulton, Hansen, Harms, Heidemann, Hudkins, Janssen, Karpisek, Langemeier, Louden, Nelson, Pahls, Pankonin, Stuthman). Unsure: 2 (Ashford, Wallman). 2. Do you support changing Nebraska's method of execution from the electric chair to lethal injection? Yes: 18 (Adams, Engel, Fischer, Flood, Friend, Fulton, Harms, Heidemann, Hudkins, Janssen, Johnson, Karpisek, Langemeier, Nelson, Pahls, Pankonin, Rogert, Stuthman, Wallman). No: 5 (Kopplin, Kruse, Louden, Nantkes, Pedersen). Unsure: 7 (Aguilar, Ashford, Carlson, Christensen, Cornett, Hansen, Howard, McGill). No answer: 1 (Dierks) Not participating: 15 (Avery, Burling, Chambers, Dubas, Gay, Lathrop, Lautenbaugh, McDonald, Pirsch, Preister, Raikes, Schimek, Synowiecki, White, Wightman). (source for both: Associated Press) NEW JERSEY: To the Editor: As a citizen of New Jersey, I am elated and proud of my state's abolishment of the death penalty. What a Christmas gift! At the same time, I am ashamed of my country's position regarding the United Nations recent vote for a global moratorium on the death penalty where, as you note, the United States is aligned with states like Iran, Sudan and Pakistan in executing its criminals. I wonder, too, at the apathy of Americans regarding this issue but would like it to be known that there are many of us who are passionate about it. For many years, my church, St. Mark's Episcopal, in Teaneck, has joined other houses of worship nationally in tolling its bell on the evening of an execution, part of a grass-roots effort to raise awareness and urge the abolishment of state-endorsed killing. Michael Accordino Teaneck, N.J., Dec. 20, 2007 (source: Letter to the Editor, New York Times)
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----NEB., N.J.
Rick Halperin Sun, 30 Dec 2007 16:26:29 -0600 (Central Standard Time)
