LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska senators who voted to abolish the death penalty say a recent analysis of the program's costs validates their argument that it's wasteful and ineffective.
The death penalty opposition group Retain a Just Nebraska released a letter Thursday praising the study, which says capital punishment costs the state an estimated $14.6 million annually. The letter was signed by 27 senators who voted to repeal the death penalty, including Speaker of the Legislature Galen Hadley.
Sen. Colby Coash of Lincoln, a leading Republican opponent of capital punishment, says the 2015 vote to end the death penalty eliminated a wasteful government program that hasn't worked for decades.
The Nebraska attorney general's office has disputed parts of the study, but conservative Creighton University economist Ernie Goss says he stands by his work.
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