The Legislature took it away. But on Tuesday, Nebraska voters handed back execution as an option for judges and juries to consider for the most heinous murders.
Even as support for the death penalty among states is said to be waning -- the lowest it has been in decades, according to a Pew Research Center poll --Â Nebraska voters said by a convincing margin they want to keep it.
A 100,000-plus vote margin, considered a landslide, reinforces that the vast majority of Nebraskans want the death penalty option, said Nebraskans for the Death Penalty spokesman Chris Peterson.Â
Bob Evnen, who has worked for the past 17 months on behalf of repealing the law, said he hopes the unicameral Legislature will respect the will of the people and cooperate with the governor to establish a successful, humane method of carrying out the death penalty.Â
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“We also hope that the judiciary will look for ways to end interminable appeals while maintaining the due process rights of defendants,†he said. “We know that this can happen, because it happens in other states.â€
Stephen Griffith, director of Nebraskans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, said Nebraskans across the political spectrum worked together to call for its end.Â
"But it's still a broken system," he said. "And we look forward to continuing this conversation with Nebraskans."
Sen. Ernie Chambers, who has worked more than 40 years to eliminate capital punishment, said Monday the circumstances that led him to fight for the repeal of the death penalty had a hiatus with the Legislature's action. With the return of those circumstances, he plans to renew his efforts.
"And I will have a bill to repeal the death penalty ready for introduction in January,†he said.
Nebraska's Catholic bishops said they, too, will continue to call for repeal of the death penalty.Â
The referendum, which gained more than enough signatures in summer 2015 to get the question on the ballot, passed despite being outspent nearly 5-to-1 by the opposition, Peterson said.
The Retain A Just Nebraska campaign spent about $2.2 million compared to about $450,000 by the referendum campaign.
Even with a green light to put the death penalty back into play, opponents believe it will be a long time, if ever, before an execution takes place. Ten men are on death row, most with remaining appeals.
The last time Nebraska executed a man was in 1997. The state has since put its electric chair in storage because its use was found to be unconstitutional by the Nebraska Supreme Court. Lethal injection has become the execution protocol, but has never been used and the state has had trouble getting the necessary drugs.
Lincoln attorney and longtime death penalty opponent Alan Peterson said several legal issues could prevent any potential execution.
For one, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a Florida case the U.S. Constitution requires juries to make those decisions. In Nebraska, judges decide one or more statements of fact in death penalty sentencing.
“These and other issues may take years to resolve, and the lack of acceptable lethal drugs is just one of many additional barriers to Nebraska killing anyone for a long time, if ever,†Alan Peterson said.
Officials have said they are working on a new drug protocol that would allow the state to carry out the death penalty, but many opponents say that's unlikely because of the difficulty in getting the drugs.
Gov. Pete Ricketts dug into his own bank account to donate $300,000 to Nebraskans for the Death Penalty. His father, Joe, donated another $100,000.
On Friday, the governor said that over the past several weeks, he has stepped up conversations with Attorney General Doug Peterson and Corrections Director Scott Frakes about a thorough review of the capital punishment protocols used in other states.
“My administration will continue to review potential protocol changes,†Ricketts said.
