From the Omaha World-Herald:

LINCOLN — For likely the first time ever, a Nebraska legislative committee has given unanimous support to repealing the death penalty. On an 8-0 vote Monday, March 9, the Judiciary Committee advanced a bill to repeal capital punishment for debate by the full Legislature.

State Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha, who has made ending the death penalty his top priority during four decades in office, said that 2015 presents as good a chance as ever to “get this state out of the killing business.”

Eleven other senators, including three or four who could be described as conservative Republicans, have signed on as co-sponsors to the repeal proposal, Legislative Bill 268.

Read the full story.

Also read The Case for Repeal from Nebraskans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty.