From Steve Griffith and Nebraskans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty:
As I’m sure you have seen, earlier this week a group called Nebraskans for the Death Penalty submitted signatures to try to undo the death penalty repeal at the November 2016 general election. It won’t be official until the Secretary of State verifies the signatures, but it seems quite likely that they’ve gained enough signatures to send the issue to the ballot. I share your disappointment that our victory is under attack.
But I hope that you share some of my great hope. Nebraska’s history has shown that it is an uphill effort for ballot initiatives to succeed. Time and again we’ve seen that when given the facts people are not inclined to keep the death penalty. We have 15 months to share with our fellow Nebraskans what we already know: that our death penalty fails us. I believe we can win and make history again!
We’re certainly not alone in this effort. Yesterday the Catholic Bishops released a statement reiterating their condemnation of the death penalty. They are joined by dozens of other religious and secular groups who helped us win repeal and will continue to speak out to end the death penalty.
I am going to spend the next few days working closely with our staff, Nebraskans for Public Safety, and other partners to draft a plan to move us to victory in 2016. You can expect to hear more from me soon with ways we’ll need your help. In the meanwhile, as you are talking with friends and family, please let them know why you are opposed to the death penalty. Let’s keep the conversations flowing. Each and every vote will matter.