Since Nebraska became a state in 1867, a total of 37 people have been executed in our state. Thirty-four of those executions took place prior to 1972 when the United States Supreme Court put a moratorium on use of the death penalty.
Three executions have been carried out in Nebraska since the Supreme Court restored the death penalty in 1976: Harold Otey in 1994, John Joubert in 1996 and Robert Williams in 1997.
There are currently 11 individuals on death row in Nebraska.
In 1979, three years after the Supreme Court allowed states to resume use of the death penalty, the Nebraska Legislature voted to prohibit its use. Then-Governor Charlie Thone vetoed the bill and the Legislature was unable to override his veto.
Since 1979, largely because of the persistence of Sen. Ernie Chambers, the Legislature has had a perennial debate on the question of repealing the death penalty and replacing it with life in prison without parole. This year, Sen. Chambers’ repeal bill, LB 268, has the best chance of enactment since 1979.
The Nebraska Catholic Conference, representing the three bishops in Nebraska, supports repealing the death penalty and replacing it with life in prison without parole. The Conference testified in support of LB 268 and has been lobbying senators to urge their support for the bill.
In communicating our position, the Conference has made it clear that the teaching of the Church does not condemn use of the death penalty in principle. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (#2267) says that “Assuming that the guilty party’s identity and responsibility have been fully determined, the traditional teaching of the Church does not exclude recourse to the death penalty, if this is the only possible way of effectively defending human lives against the unjust aggressor.”
However, the Catechism also says if “non-lethal means are sufficient to defend and protect people’s safety from the aggressor, authority will limit itself to such means, as these are more in keeping with the concrete conditions of the common good and more in conformity with the dignity of the human person.”
The Catechism’s teaching on the death penalty was influenced by the writings of Saint John Paul in his encyclical Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life). In paragraph 56 he says:
“The primary purpose of the punishment which society inflicts is ‘to redress the disorder caused by the offence.’ Public authority must redress the violation of personal and social rights by imposing on the offender an adequate punishment for the crime, as a condition for the offender to regain the exercise of his or her freedom. In this way authority also fulfills the purpose of defending public order and ensuring people’s safety, while at the same time offering the offender an incentive and help to change his or her behaviour and be rehabilitated.
“It is clear that, for these purposes to be achieved, the nature and extent of the punishment must be carefully evaluated and decided upon, and ought not go to the extreme of executing the offender except in cases of absolute necessity: in other words, when it would not be possible otherwise to defend society. Today however, as a result of steady improvements in the organization of the penal system, such cases are very rare, if not practically non-existent.”
In their joint statement on the use of the death penalty in Nebraska, Archbishop Lucas, Bishop Conley and then-Bishop Dendinger concluded that this primary condition (i.e. absolute necessity) needed to legitimize use of the death penalty does not exist at this time in Nebraska. “For this reason,” the statement reads, “the Catholic bishops of Nebraska, guided by prudence and the teaching of the Church, support legislative efforts to repeal the death penalty and reform our criminal justice system.”
Legislative Bill 268 advanced a few weeks ago from the first stage of debate with 31 votes (out of 49 senators). The bill is likely to have a second round of debate during the week of May 11 and, if it advances, would have a final vote within two weeks.
Governor Pete Ricketts has indicated he intends to veto the bill if it reaches his desk. It would take 30 votes to override his veto. Please go online to www.necatholic.org and send a message to your state senator and to Governor Ricketts asking them to replace the death penalty with life in prison without parole.
