by Sarah Craft, EJUSA, and Sarah Barrett, Nebraskans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (NADP)
In a press conference at the Capitol this morning, members of Nebraska Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty (NE-CCATDP) called on lawmakers to support repeal. Seven state senators along with other Nebraska conservatives shared how the death penalty conflicts with their conservative values and needs to end.
“As conservatives, we are committed to fiscal responsibility, limited government, and valuing life, and the death penalty goes against every one of them,” said Sen. Colby Coash of Lincoln, one of the leaders of the group.
The Scottsbluff Star Herald took notice, editorializing in favor of repeal and saying “conservative Republicans are questioning the political sense of clinging to a toothless, costly policy that experts say has little effect on deterring crime.” And the Omaha World Herald noticed that the death penalty “no longer falls solely in the realm of liberal politics.”
“Nebraska’s conservative lawmakers are in good company,” said Matt Maly, state coordinator of NE-CCATDP. “Across the country conservative values have been a driving force to end the death penalty.” In addition to Nebraska, GOP lawmakers in Kansas, Kentucky, Wyoming, Montana, and Missouri sponsored bills in 2015 to repeal the death penalty.
“The death penalty is a costly government program that we don’t use and that does nothing to make us safer,” said Bryan Baumgart, former chairman of the Douglas County Republican Party. Baumgart was one of 23 prominent conservatives who signed an open letter – presented at the press conference – in support of repeal. “It’s inefficient and ineffective, which is why many conservatives want it repealed.”
