Nebraska could soon repeal the death penalty

The state would replace execution with life imprisonment

A lethal injection death chamber in a prison in Huntsville, Texas (Getty)

Nebraska is one step closer to repealing its death penalty amid a shortage of a lethal injection drug after lawmakers passed a bill that would implement life sentences instead of execution.

That bill was approved by a vote of 30-13 and if that number holds it would be enough votes in support of repealing the death penalty to override the expected veto of Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts

If the bill becomes law, Nebraska would be with seventh state to repeal the death penalty since 2000, Fox News reported. Delaware also is considering a bill that would abolish its death penalty.

Nebraska has not had the drug it uses for lethal injections – sodium thiopental – since December 2013 and that shortage prompted the bill to repeal the death penalty. Other states have struggled to get lethal-injection drugs, as many European companies have shied away from supplying the states.

There are currently 11 people on death row in Nebraska, but the state has not executed anyone since 1997, according to reports.

The bill still must survive two additional rounds of voting in the Nebraska legislature before it could become law. Several state lawmakers are working to block the bill.

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