Death penalty.

In the spirit of sister politics and joint legislative motivation, Nebraska has initiated progressive legislation in an area prominent on Florida's immediate horizon. That vital concern is the "demise" of the death penalty.

The Nebraska Legislature has recognized the futility of continuing to ignore or rationalize realities weighing against its continued use as a functional sanction for killing. Likewise, with regard to the diminishing interest of drug companies to continue to supply the questionable drugs used for executions.

A major accommodation by the Nebraska Legislature in reaching this decision was recognition of the continued execution of citizens shown to be innocent. (Florida leads the country in the number of exonerations of people on death row.)

The Republican leadership also noted that the death penalty was unfair to families of victims because of the uncertainty of implementing a sentence of death and that executions had "essentially ground to a halt." They also acknowledged that the death penalty was inconsistently administered (this consistent with the overwhelming use of the death penalty in Florida against those who are poor or of color).

Additionally, the Florida Supreme Court is one vote from having a majority expressing concerns about Florida's death penalty law being unconstitutional under the holding of Ring v. Arizona, 122 S. Ct. 2428 (2002). (See Peterson v. State, 94 So.3d 514, (Fla. 2012)). (Ring is the U.S. Supreme Court opinion essentially holding that taking away a jury's authority to make irrevocable decisions necessary for a judge to consider imposing a death sentence violates the U.S. Constitution.)

The Nebraska Republican Legislature recognized that "conservatives nationwide" have spoken out against the death penalty citing, among others...