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UPDATE: — Nebraska abolishes death penalty in landmark override vote — Grant Schulte | The Associated Press
"Lincoln, Neb. • Nebraska abolished the death penalty on Wednesday in a landmark veto-override vote backed by an unusual coalition of conservatives who oppose capital punishment.
"Senators in the one-house Legislature voted 30-19 to override Gov. Pete Ricketts, a Republican who supports the death penalty. The vote makes Nebraska the first traditionally conservative state to eliminate the punishment since North Dakota in 1973.
"Nebraska joins 18 other states and the District of Columbia in banning the ultimate punishment. ..."
— Trib Talk: Should sex traffickers get the death penalty in Utah? — The Salt Lake Tribune
Lots of crime and punishment news in the last several days. Most of it, including some from Utah, moving toward a much more humane approach. But not all of it.
— Utah should not try to out-monster the monsters — Salt Lake Tribune Editorial
"There is little reason to doubt that anyone who saw what Utah state Rep. Paul Ray says he saw in the disgusting world of human trafficking would be as appalled and sickened as he was. It speaks well of the Clearfield Republican that he cares enough to see for himself, by accompanying law enforcement agents into the field, this horrid underbelly of modern life.
"But Ray's proposed legislative reaction, to add child sex trafficking to the list of crimes for which Utah would impose the death penalty, is the anger speaking. That approach is not the rational and thoughtful consideration that should be the basis of making and enforcing the law. ..."
— The Conservative conundrum is missing conservatism — Gene Faux | For The Provo Daily Herald
" ... We might not have clean air in the state of Utah but we do have pure hearts and those who do not, and are convicted of murder, will likely have hot lead blasted into his/her heart to cleanse the wrong-doing, thus ending his/her life with a bang, unless human error botches the job and that life is spared. ..."
— Follow Nebraska's lead away from death penalty — Washington Post Editorial
" ... 'If capital punishment were any other program that was so inefficient and so costly to the taxpayer, we would have gotten rid of it a long time ago,' state Sen. Colby Coash said. ..."
— Death penalty is unfair, costly and an ineffective deterrent — Josh Daniels | For The Salt Lake Tribune
" ... The Utah Legislature often looks for ways it can squeeze more value from each tax dollar by reforming government programs. This drive for tax efficiency was a primary impetus behind this year's criminal justice reforms. With the death penalty, however, taxpayers get a lot less bang for the buck. While a desire for justice has led legislators in the past to favor this policy of ultimate retribution, capital punishment has become a failure of big government and falls far short as an effective policy. ..."
— The withering of the death penalty — George F. Will | The Washington Post
" ... the power to inflict death cloaks government with a majesty and pretense of infallibility discordant with conservatism. ..."
— Stand firm on death penalty repeal — Lincoln (Neb.) Journal-Star Editorial
" ... Elected officials can and should do more. They can lead. They can explain to their constituents the many reasons why the death penalty should be repealed. Nebraska may the first "conservative" state to repeal the death penalty, but others will surely follow."
— If death penalty repealed, punishment must fit crime — Omaha World-Herald Editorial
"The Legislature's debate over the death penalty was wrenching in part because both sides are right about some things. And neither side is wrong about everything. ..."
— Death penalty repeal softens fight against crime — Gov. Pete Ricketts | For The Grand Island (Neb.) Independent
"Over the past couple weeks, the Legislature has continued to advance proposals that soften our state's approach to dealing with the most hardened and heinous criminals. These proposals, including the repeal of Nebraska's death penalty and mandatory minimum sentences for certain offenses, would make it more difficult for Nebraska law enforcement to prosecute the worst criminals and consequently would put Nebraska families and public safety at risk. ..."
— Nebraska's enlightened conservatives abolish the death penalty — St. Louis Post-Dispatch Editorial
" ... 'The death penalty fails to live up to a lot of conservative ideals,' Marc Hyden, a coordinator with Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty, told the Wall Street Journal. 'It's not pro-life, it's not limited-government, and it doesn't deter crime'. ..."
— Common sense, common decency, common good — Salt Lake Tribune Editorial
" ... Members of the Utah Legislature often are chided for their backward thinking, but there are times when good sense and goodness are visible.
"The most notable change, likely to save lives and millions in taxpayer dollars, has been the increasing understanding among members of the Legislature, and the administration of Gov. Gary Herbert, that a criminal justice system that is purely punitive is both ridiculously expensive and absurdly ineffective — if, by effective, we mean reducing the number of crimes committed and the number of people who commit crimes more than once. ..."
— Medical marijuana — St. George Spectrum Editorial
" ... There are, indeed, some drugs whose power to destroy lives is so great that they should be outlawed. Marijuana, however, isn't one of them. The potential good that marijuana can do outweighs its risks. ..."