Nebraska abolishes death penalty

Senators in Nebraska’s one-house legislature voted 30-19 Wednesday to eliminate capital punishment in the state, overriding the veto of Republican Gov. Pete Ricketts.

The vote makes Nebraska the first traditionally conservative state to eliminate capital punishment since North Dakota in 1973, as it joins 18 other states and the District of Columbia in banning the death penalty.

Although Nebraska’s legislature is officially nonpartisan, it is comprised of 35 registered Republicans, 13 Democrats, and one independent: Sen. Ernie Chambers, who introduced the bill and has fought for eliminating the death penalty for four decades.

Although some conservative senators say they support the death penalty, they believe the state will never carry out another execution because of legal obstacles. Nebraska hasn’t executed an inmate since a 1997 electrocution, and the state has never carried out a death sentence with its current lethal-injection protocol.

Nebraska lost its ability to execute inmates in December 2013, when one of the three lethal injection drugs required by state law expired.

The state recently purchased two of the drugs it lacked, and Republican Attorney General Doug Peterson implored lawmakers on Tuesday to give state officials more time to prepare.

Nebraska lawmakers attempted to repeal the death penalty in 1979, but senators at the time didn’t have enough votes to override the governor’s veto.

Nebraska currently has 10 men on death row. One died Sunday of natural causes.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.