Mar. 24 NEBRASKA: Death penalty debate coming back to the Capitol On the complex stage of Nebraska's death penalty debate, the spotlight this week shifts to the state Legislature, where lawmakers will consider a repeal of capital punishment for the second time in as many years. But the next act of the state's debate about how to punish murderers likely will come from the U.S. Supreme Court. An upcoming ruling on the constitutionality of lethal injection is "the other piece of the puzzle," Gov. Dave Heineman said Monday. "We could act without that, but it would be unlikely," Heineman said. "We need to find a legal method of execution, and that should not be left in limbo." Nebraska has been without a means of execution since the state Supreme Court ruled in February that the electric chair, the state's sole means of putting inmates to death, amounts to cruel and unusual punishment. But the most likely alternative - lethal injection - is under federal review in a Kentucky case that questions whether the execution drugs commonly used risk causing excruciating pain, in violation of the U.S. Constitution. The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule by June. "Nebraskans want a constitutional way of carrying out the death penalty, and we're going to have one," Attorney General Jon Bruning said Monday. "The Legislature wants to talk about repeal every year. Eventually Nebraskans are going to wonder whether (legislators) have better things to do." Opponents of the death penalty will rally at the Capitol Tuesday morning, before the Legislature's debate begins, said Mark Weddleton of Nebraskans Against the Death Penalty. "I hope Nebraska's senators will reflect the changing mood in the state," Weddleton said. It's too late for senators to introduce a bill this session to change the state's method of execution, but the governor can. He also could call a special session of the Legislature. He said Monday he doesn't yet know whether he will do so. Bruning said Heineman's calling a special session is "more difficult with Senator Chambers." Ernie Chambers of Omaha, the Legislature's most outspoken opponent of the death penalty, would still be a senator during a special session this year; he'll be term-limited out at the end of the year. Sen. Brad Ashford of Omaha, chairman of the Legislature's Judiciary Committee, will lead this year's debate. "Everyone knows the issue," said Ashford, who opposes the death penalty. "Everyone will have to reach inside themselves and decide whether or not to have the death penalty." Ashford said he's not counting votes yet. "This isn't my predicting the outcome of the Super Bowl," Ashford said. "This is a down-in-the-gut kind of thing." Chambers' bill (LB1063) would change the maximum penalty to life in prison without possibility of parole. He's introduced similar bills for nearly four decades, but the closest he came to having the law changed was in 1979, when his bill passed on a 26-22 vote but was vetoed by then-Gov. Charley Thone. Heineman said he'll veto the bill if it passes. Senators would need 30 votes for an override. In a pre-session survey by The Associated Press, 11 of Nebraska's 49 state senators said they supported repealing the death penalty - versus 6 last year. 23 said they opposed a repeal, versus 29 last year. Others were unsure or didn't respond to the survey. 19 said they supported changing the state's method of execution to lethal injection. It's unlikely a new method of execution could be worked into the current bill. Any measure proposing to replace electrocution with lethal injection would have to have a public hearing and could not be automatically amended onto a bill already before the Legislature, according to Speaker Mike Flood. Bruning has asked state Supreme Court justices to reconsider their ruling on the electric chair, although he said he doesn't expect them to change their minds. He's still considering an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. State senators turned down a death penalty repeal last year, coming up 1 vote short of 1st-round approval. State lawmakers also voted down a bill that would have made it more difficult to sentence people to death. 3 people - Harold Otey, John Joubert and Robert Williams - have been put to death in Nebraska since executions were resumed in 1994. Death row inmate Carey Dean Moore was scheduled to be executed in May of last year, but the state Supreme Court halted it less than a week before he was supposed to be put to death. The court said at the time it must reconsider whether the electric chair amounts to cruel and unusual punishment given a "changing legal landscape." 10 men now sit on Nebraska's death row. On the Net: Nebraska Legislature: http://www.nebraskalegislature.gov (source: Beatrice Daily Sun) MARYLAND: House votes to create panel to study death penalty in Md. The House of Delegates voted today to create a commission to study capital punishment in Maryland, after efforts to repeal the death penalty failed for a 2nd straight year. The House voted 89-48 to form the commission, which would study racial, jurisdictional and economic disparities in how the death penalty has been administered. The Maryland Commission on Capital Punishment also would study the risk of innocent people being executed and compare the costs of executing someone with the expense of imprisoning someone for life without parole. The Senate was scheduled to vote on a similar bill tonight. The commission would issue a report on its findings and recommendations to the General Assembly by Dec. 15. Republicans, citing Democratic Gov. Martin O'Malley's opposition to capital punishment, criticized the idea, saying the commission was being set up to recommend ending the death penalty. Del. Christopher Shank, R-Washington, described the proposal as "a textbook model on how to repeal the death penalty in your state." "Ladies and gentlemen, the verdict is already in before the jury has even gone out," Shank said. "This bill is about the repeal of the death penalty, and I would suggest a 'no' vote." But Del. Sandy Rosenberg, D-Baltimore, said the bill was carefully amended to make sure the commission will be "open to discussion and consideration." "We feel as a committee that we have amended the bill sufficiently so this bill, as it now stands, creates a credible task force -- one that will objectively look at the issues," Rosenberg said. Maryland currently has a de facto moratorium in place against capital punishment, because of a ruling in late 2006 by the state's highest court. The court ruled the state's protocol for the lethal injection procedure was implemented without proper approval by a legislative committee. Executions can't resume until the O'Malley administration submits new rules for the committee to approve. In 2003, University of Maryland criminologist Raymond Paternoster released a study that found black defendants who killed whites were statistically most likely to be charged with capital murder and sentenced to death in Maryland. Black defendants whose victims were white were 2 1/2 times more likely to be sentenced to death than white defendants with white victims, according to the study. Maryland currently has five men on death row. Only five inmates have been executed since Maryland reinstated the death penalty in 1978. Wesley Baker, who was put to death in December 2005, was the last person to be executed in Maryland. Read House Bill 1111: http://mlis.state.md.us/2008rs/billfile/hb1111.htm Read Senate Bill 0614: http://mlis.state.md.us/2008rs/billfile/sb0614.htm (source: Associated Press)
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----NEB., MD.
Rick Halperin Mon, 24 Mar 2008 23:25:20 -0500 (Central Daylight Time)
