Nebraska votes to abolish death penalty; replaces it with life in prison

Nebraska lawmakers have voted to abolish the death penalty, passing a bill to replace capital punishment with life in prison by a majority large enough to override a threatened veto by the state's governor.

Ignoring a last-ditch appeal by Republican Governor Pete Ricketts to maintain the death penalty, Nebraska's Senate voted to end capital punishment with immediate effect. The law will also be applied retrospectively, meaning 11 prisoners on death row in Nebraska will now have their sentences commuted to life in prison.

Nebraska senators voted 32-15 in favour of the bill yesterday after a two-hour-long debate, confirming the outcome of an earlier vote on April 17 which passed with a similar margin of 34-14.

By securing 30 votes, the measure eliminates the threat of a veto which Ricketts had vowed to use if the vote was passed.

Nebraska is now the 19th of 50 US states, along with the federal capital Washington, to formally abolish the death penalty. It is the first state since Maryland in 2011 to scrap capital punishment, and the seventh since 2007.

Ricketts now has five days to formally respond to the Senate vote, but did not immediately reveal whether he would make a symbolic attempt at a veto.

Shortly before senators voted, Ricketts urged lawmakers to "listen to their constituents", maintaining that there was "overwhelming support" for keeping the death penalty throughout Nebraska.

Nebraska Senator Ernie Chambers, who had introduced the measure, described the abolition as "one giant leap for civilisation."

"Nebraska has a chance to step into history - on the right side of history, to take a step that will be beneficial to the advancement of civilised society which is showing its maturity and reflecting a humane sense of justice," Chambers said in a statement.

Nebraska has not carried out an execution since 1997.

The Nebraska vote reflects a gradual nationwide trend against the death penalty in the United States.

Senators in Delaware voted to abolish the death penalty in April, a measure awaiting final confirmation in a further vote.

Some 29 states and the capital Washington no longer execute prisoners. Eighty per cent of executions carried out in the United States in 2014 were concentrated in three states -- Texas, Missouri and Florida.