Cloture attempt on death penalty abolition fails

After eight hours of debate spanning two days, an attempt to force a vote on a bill that would repeal Nebraska’s death penalty failed May 14.

On its second day of debate, bill sponsor Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha offered a motion to bracket LB543 until May 21, saying additional work needed to be done on the bill. He later withdrew the motion.

Much of the debate, however, continued to focus on the repeal of the death penalty.

Fremont Sen. Charlie Janssen opposed the repeal attempt, saying the death penalty serves as a deterrent to others who might commit violent crimes and also provides authorities leverage when seeking confessions in homicide cases.

Sen. Sue Crawford of Bellevue disagreed, saying the death penalty sometimes is used wrongfully to coerce confessions to crimes from those who did not commit them.

Omaha Sen. Brad Ashford offered an amendment that would eliminate the bill’s retroactive provisions, saying that would allay some senators’ concerns about releasing those who were convicted in prior homicide cases. The bill instead would apply only to future homicide cases, he said.

Sen. Beau McCoy of Omaha, who opposed the bill, said the retroactive provisions should be discussed and voted on separately.

Chambers offered a motion to invoke cloture and force a vote on the bill. The motion failed 28-21, falling five votes short of the number required for adoption.

A failed cloture attempt prevents further debate on the bill for the day.