Nebraska legislators voted 30-19 on Wednesday to abolish the death penalty, becoming the first overwhelmingly conservative state in more than 40 years to repeal capital punishment, NBC News reported. Lawmakers from across the political spectrum united to pass a repeal bill three times, and then amassed the 30 votes to override Gov. Pete Ricketts' veto of the bill to finally end the practice in the heavily Republican state. "The death penalty in Nebraska is broken. It's time to repeal it," said Sen. Jeremy Nordquist, a Democrat, who voted to end capital punishment. The bill earned support from an otherwise unlikely coalition of legislators, including conservative Republicans who opposed the death penalty on religious grounds and those who said it was too costly for the state.
