OUR VIEW: Senator Ebke, Legislature Should Uphold Death Penalty

Ordinarily, we limit the subject matter of this blog to the news of Dorchester and Saline County.  But with the Nebraska Legislature apparently set to do away with the state's death penalty, we want to expand our scope for this post.

According to the Omaha newspaper, Nebraska's state senators on Friday voted 30-16 in support of Senator Ernie Chamber's bill to end Nebraska's death penalty.  This despite the revelation from Governor Ricketts that the state will soon have the drugs to carry out executions again.  It looks like the legislature will take up the bill for a final vote this week.

The Legislature's death penalty repeal doesn't appear to be a religious movement, but is instead being carried out in the name of secular opposition to capital punishment, led mostly by atheist and race-obsessed Ernie Chambers -- the same guy who said earlier this year he'd shoot a police officer.

Here's what shocks us most:  State senators -- who are charged with representing the citizens of Nebraska -- are about to repeal the death penalty days after a horrific pair of premeditated murders in Omaha.  We're referring to the killing of 4-year-old Josue Ramirez-Marinero (who was alive and asleep when he was yanked from his car seat and tossed over a bridge into the overflowing Elkhorn River) and his mother, who was stabbed and beaten to death, both acts committed by her 25-year-old son.

It's worth noting also that repealing the death penalty would come less than two years after Nikko Jenkins -- who smirked and laughed as prosecutors recounted details of his victims' deaths -- pulled Andrea Kruger, a mother of three who was driving home from her job to tend to a sick child, from her car in Omaha and shot her in the head, neck and back, killing her in the middle of the road.  This is the same Nikko Jenkins who has been found guilty of executing at least three others in Omaha.  

Without the death penalty, Jenkins and the killer of Josue Ramirez-Marinero (and these other savages) will get to live the next 30, 40 or 50 years being fed well each day in comfort -- all expenses paid by state taxpayers.  Worse, there's always a chance these wastes-of-flesh will walk among us again so long as they possess a pulse.

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Survey conducted by KETV.

For those who wish to make the death penalty a religious issue -- and those who do are usually the first to cry "separation of church and state" -- the Bible clearly teaches the legitimacy of capital punishment.

For those who say capital punishment is not an effective deterrent, there are plenty of us who believe it indeed deters some from killing innocent Nebraskans.  And we'll venture a guess that violent crime in Nebraska will increase if the death penalty is repealed.  

That said, the point of capital punishment is not only to deter but to uphold the sacredness of innocent human life.  

A society that bans the death penalty shows it no longer reveres innocent life the way its forefathers did. Instead, it sends a message of moral confusion -- that it has become a soft society that lacks the fortitude to deal with evil. 

By doing away with the death penalty, the State of Nebraska will advertise to all killers that no matter what they do to our children, women or elderly, their lives are safe and secure -- guaranteed by the state. The worst punishment they will get is three square meals a day in a comfortable cell provided by law abiding Nebraskans.

And keep this in mind:  According to the news we've read, this repeal of the death penalty would come after the legislature chose to raise the gas tax; legalize medical marijuana; and water down minimum sentencing laws for habitual criminals -- those who've been caught and convicted of committing three or more serious crimes.

What in the world is going on at the state capitol?

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We're disappointed that state Senator Laura Ebke of Crete was among the 30 senators who voted to end the death penalty, as well as go soft on habitual criminals.  We'd bet our blog's masthead that if a public vote were held, capital punishment would be favored by 80% or better in Senator Ebke's legislative district, and more than 70% statewide.

Readers who care can call or e-mail Senator Ebke and tell her to reverse her votes on repealing the death penalty and aiding habitual criminals.  Her office phone is (402) 471-2711 and her e-mail is lebke@leg.ne.gov.  (To see which 30 senators voted for repeal of the death penalty, click this link.  For a list of all senators and their contact information, visit the legislature's website.)

At the end of the day, state leaders have only a handful of key responsibilities they must fulfill.  One is to keep the public safe from the bad guys by any means necessary.  If they can't do that, they should step aside to make room for someone else who has the moral courage to do so.