Nebraska Votes to Bring Back Death Penalty

Lawmakers repealed penalty last year
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 9, 2016 12:52 AM CST
Nebraska Votes to Bring Back Death Penalty
Nebraska's lethal injection chamber at the State Penitentiary in Lincoln, Neb.   (AP Photo/Nate Jenkins, File)

The death penalty is back from the dead in Nebraska: Voters overwhelmingly supported a ballot measure to restore the penalty, which was abolished by state lawmakers last year, reports the AP. Around 61% of voters chose to "repeal the repeal" in the state, which had 10 people on death row before last year's move, reports the Omaha World-Herald. State Sen. Ernie Chambers, who sponsored the measure to repeal the death penalty, says the vote shows him that Nebraska is a "hidebound and backward state." He plans to introduce another repeal bill in January. Gov. Pete Ricketts, whose veto of the repeal bill was overridden last year, donated $300,000 to the campaign to restore the death penalty. (More death penalty stories.)

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