State legislators in the strongly Republican state of Nebraska voted 35-12 to abolish the death penalty within their state. While conservative opposition to the death penalty is growing, this bill would make Nebraska the first deep red state to nix the death penalty since 1973.
Especially interesting is the explicitly conservative rationale behind this vote, at least as expressed by Nebraska State Senator Laure Ebke:
It's certainly a matter of conscience, at least in part, but it's also a matter of trying to be philosophically consistent. If government can't be trusted to manage our health care... then why should it be trusted to carry out the irrevocable sentence of death? [AP]
Nebraska's governor has said he will not sign the bill, but based on this vote, the legislature is comfortably set to amass the 30 votes it needs to override his veto.
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