January 6, 2012 

When he met in October with Italy’s interior minister, Pope Benedict XVI described civic leadership as having "an almost sacred character." "Therefore," the Pope stated, "it must be exercised with great dignity and a deep sense of responsibility."

Those values the Pope emphasized—dignity and responsibility—would certainly seem to be highly regarded standards for all contexts of the exercise of temporal authority. For instance, they come to mind in the context of the second session of the 102^nd Nebraska Legislature, newly underway at the State Capitol, having convened on Jan. 4 for up to 60 days of lawmaking.

Fortunately for Nebraskans, dignity and responsibility prevail far more often than not when the Legislature is doing its business.

The second regular session of each Nebraska Legislature—the "even-year" session"—has legislation available for action right from its opening gavel. This is due to the fact that legislation not finally decided during the first year of a Legislature—always odd-numbered years—"carry over" to the ensuing year. Legislative bills introduced in 2011, but neither passed nor indefinitely postponed, began this session at the stage of the process they were at when that first session ended.

Approximately 400 legislative bills (also including a few substantive resolutions that are addressed procedurally as bills) carried over from 2011 to this year. The total includes 38 bills that are on "General File," which is the first stage of floor debate by the body as a whole. The session started with seven bills at the second stage, "Select File," and one held on Final Reading. The other 350 or so carry-over bills are under the jurisdiction of the committee to which they were assigned. Every one of these bills was the subject of a public hearing conducted last year by the respective committee.

While there is carry-over legislation to work on, new legislation is being introduced as well. Once the committees begin holding public hearings on these newly introduced bills, the legislators will spend mornings in floor sessions and afternoons in their committee assignments.

With the foregoing information as background, what’s an example of a carry-over bill that is likely to attract early attention?

Perhaps it will be LB 276, which proposes to repeal the death penalty as punishment for aggravated first-degree murder. It would replace execution with imprisonment for life without parole, subject only to the constitutionally-established authority of the Board of Pardons—three elected statewide office-holders: Governor, Attorney General, and Secretary of State— to commute life sentences to specific terms.

LB 276 had a public hearing last March 4 and was subsequently advanced to the full Legislature, i.e., General File, by a 6-2 vote of the Judiciary Committee. It was not designated a priority bill, so it received no action and remained on General File.

While it may be doubtful that LB 276 would have enough support—not just to advance and pass with 25 votes, but to reach 30 in order to override an almost-certain veto by the Governor, the debate nonetheless would be worthwhile.

In addition to the longstanding policy arguments relating to capital punishment, as well as new data and information, there are two other, more specific aspects we hope draw attention and comment if this debate occurs.

First and foremost would be more information and more probing about the messy situation Nebraska has been in regarding acquisition of drugs to carry out a lethal-injection execution. Whether Nebraskans, including the legislators, view this quagmire as a prevailing reason, or yet another reason, to repeal the death penalty, or not, this matter ought to be thoroughly scrutinized as a matter of legislative record.

Secondly, we hope there would be some expression of concern about what happened at the Republican presidential-candidate debate in California in early September. As part of his introduction of a question about the death penalty, national newsman Brian Williams, serving as the moderator, mentioned the candidate’s (Texas Governor Rick Perry) record of authorizing 234 executions in a little more than 10 years. The audience burst into clapping and cheering. It was a chilling reaction to such a somber reality. How does it reflect on society? How would both defenders and opponents of the death penalty explain it? Such questions are ripe for discussion.

And finally.... The Unicameral Legislature, which consists of 49 state senators, has two new members in 2012. They fill vacancies that occurred since the 2011 regular session concluded. District 33 office holder, Senator Dennis Utter from Hastings died Dec. 27. He served admirably, as a competent and dedicated legislator, who made valuable contributions to legislative outcomes. His replacement had not yet been appointed as of the first day of the new session. Senator R. Paul Lambert, from Plattsmouth, was appointed by Governor Heineman on Oct. 7 to replace Dave Pankonin, who resigned as the legislator for District 2. Senator Lambert had a "baptism by fire," as his service began in time for November’s special session on the pipeline issues.