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Re: 104th Nebraska Legislature (2015)

Posted: Wed May 27, 2015 8:24 pm
by iamjacobm
Sounds like there is a big push to get the issue on a public ballot, it will almost certainly be reinstated if that happens.

Re: 104th Nebraska Legislature (2015)

Posted: Thu May 28, 2015 6:43 am
by Omababe
Looks like Nebraska has joined the more civilized states -- on this issue, that is.

Re: 104th Nebraska Legislature (2015)

Posted: Thu May 28, 2015 12:07 pm
by Garrett
Veto round 3 begins....

Re: 104th Nebraska Legislature (2015)

Posted: Thu May 28, 2015 12:13 pm
by Coyote
Dreamers veto over ridden

Re: 104th Nebraska Legislature (2015)

Posted: Thu May 28, 2015 12:45 pm
by iamjacobm
I think Ricketts is using the govenors office to boost his political profile to move up the republican ladder. He will veto every bill that could come back to bite him in a larger race later down the road. Give me a leader like Stohert over him anyday.

Re: 104th Nebraska Legislature (2015)

Posted: Thu May 28, 2015 12:54 pm
by GetUrban
iamjacobm wrote:Sounds like there is a big push to get the issue on a public ballot, it will almost certainly be reinstated if that happens.
True, but even if that does happen it will remain ineffective due to the appeals process and, even if that was streamlined, the fact is it doesn't work as a deterrent to people committing murder. Just look at Texas...over 500 executions carried out since 1975 and there are still over 300 on death row with more being added every year.

I rather see an alternative such as life in solitary confinement without a chance of parole, cutting off all contact with the outside world. That seems more of a deterrent, since most murderers are already suicidal anyway.

Re: 104th Nebraska Legislature (2015)

Posted: Thu May 28, 2015 1:31 pm
by Garrett
Personally I prefer the Norwegian prison model. Don't treat people like animals, treat them like humans:
http://www.businessinsider.com/why-norw ... ul-2014-12

Re: 104th Nebraska Legislature (2015)

Posted: Thu May 28, 2015 10:11 pm
by GetUrban
Garrett wrote:Personally I prefer the Norwegian prison model. Don't treat people like animals, treat them like humans:
http://www.businessinsider.com/why-norw ... ul-2014-12
It would be great if that would work here, but our cultures are just too different with a much more complex and less homogeneous mix of people here in this country trying to fend for themselves or get along. Also, sometimes it would be nice if people didn't treat animals like animals.

Re: 104th Nebraska Legislature (2015)

Posted: Fri May 29, 2015 12:29 am
by Garrett
GetUrban wrote:
Garrett wrote:Personally I prefer the Norwegian prison model. Don't treat people like animals, treat them like humans:
http://www.businessinsider.com/why-norw ... ul-2014-12
It would be great if that would work here, but our cultures are just too different with a much more complex and less homogeneous mix of people here in this country trying to fend for themselves or get along. Also, sometimes it would be nice if people didn't treat animals like animals.
I also think it's abundantly clear that our system as is isn't working in the slightest. Incarcerating more people than any other country on earth is clearly a problem, and a return rate of almost 80% is one too. This isn't a cultural issue: this is an issue with the psychology and design of our prisons.

Re: 104th Nebraska Legislature (2015)

Posted: Fri May 29, 2015 7:09 am
by Linkin5
Garrett wrote:
GetUrban wrote:
Garrett wrote:Personally I prefer the Norwegian prison model. Don't treat people like animals, treat them like humans:
http://www.businessinsider.com/why-norw ... ul-2014-12
It would be great if that would work here, but our cultures are just too different with a much more complex and less homogeneous mix of people here in this country trying to fend for themselves or get along. Also, sometimes it would be nice if people didn't treat animals like animals.
I also think it's abundantly clear that our system as is isn't working in the slightest. Incarcerating more people than any other country on earth is clearly a problem, and a return rate of almost 80% is one too. This isn't a cultural issue: this is an issue with the psychology and design of our prisons.
I can assure you the design of prisons is not the catalyst for incarceration rates in the US (seriously?). The problem is sentencing non-violent drug offenders to ridiculous prison terms. If this was cleared up as well as stopping to contract third parties to build and run prisons, a huge difference would be seen.

Re: 104th Nebraska Legislature (2015)

Posted: Fri May 29, 2015 9:26 am
by GetUrban
I would argue that cultural differences are the main reason our prisons are so different than Norway's. Don't want to open a can of worms, but here in this country having a gun and using it is seen as a solution to all of our problems relating to crime. Even the most trivial disagreements can quickly escalate into a life or death situation. I don't think that is the case in Norway, is it?

Re: 104th Nebraska Legislature (2015)

Posted: Fri May 29, 2015 12:28 pm
by RNcyanide
GetUrban wrote:I would argue that cultural differences are the main reason our prisons are so different than Norway's. Don't want to open a can of worms, but here in this country having a gun and using it is seen as a solution to all of our problems relating to crime. Even the most trivial disagreements can quickly escalate into a life or death situation. I don't think that is the case in Norway, is it?
Access to guns and/or ammunition may also play a part in that aspect.

Re: 104th Nebraska Legislature (2015)

Posted: Fri May 29, 2015 12:48 pm
by Linkin5
RNcyanide wrote:
GetUrban wrote:I would argue that cultural differences are the main reason our prisons are so different than Norway's. Don't want to open a can of worms, but here in this country having a gun and using it is seen as a solution to all of our problems relating to crime. Even the most trivial disagreements can quickly escalate into a life or death situation. I don't think that is the case in Norway, is it?
Access to guns and/or ammunition may also play a part in that aspect.
Not so much, there are other countries with easy access to firearms that do not use them to kill people like the US. We have created a very strange culture where it has become the norm with some people to resort to guns rather than anything else.

Re: 104th Nebraska Legislature (2015)

Posted: Fri May 29, 2015 1:50 pm
by jessep28
In addition to culling non-violent offenders in the prison ranks, I honestly think that money would be better spent educating inmates, whether it be through a community college program, or whatever. Educated inmates have far lower recidivism rates. Maybe tie good time to education goals. The only issue with turning prisoners into skilled laborers is that nobody wants to hire ex-convicts.

Re: 104th Nebraska Legislature (2015)

Posted: Fri May 29, 2015 2:11 pm
by RNcyanide
It'd be political suicide to try to ameliorate the inmate's condition. You saw how downright nasty and pathetic Lee Terry's attempts to smear Brad Ashford were with the whole prison term snafu, which wasn't really even his fault to begin with. Just imagine how that would get spun. The whole idea is to maintain an image of 'being tough on crime' and any attempt to actually help inmates who would do better outside the system would get you labelled as reckless or dangerous for families or whatever.

Re: 104th Nebraska Legislature (2015)

Posted: Fri May 29, 2015 3:38 pm
by GRANDPASMUCKER
iamjacobm wrote:I think Ricketts is using the govenors office to boost his political profile to move up the republican ladder. He will veto every bill that could come back to bite him in a larger race later down the road. Give me a leader like Stohert over him anyday.
I think he is showing his inexperiance out here in the real world. Everytime he lets the legislature override his veto it cheapens it. Now the legislature has over ridden him twice in his first year of office. It becomes much easier now to override his veto since the bridge has already been crossed twice. He needed to choose and pick his battles more carefully. If you know you are going to loose a battle no matter what then you have nothing to gain by pushing it to the point you lose. A better way to go would of been to have said "Hey I dont like giving the illegal aliens drivers licenses but I dont have the support in the legislature to stop it." You dont need to actually prove you dont have the support by letting the legislature override your veto. :what:

Re: 104th Nebraska Legislature (2015)

Posted: Fri May 29, 2015 4:51 pm
by BRoss
He's actually been overridden three times this session - the gas tax, the death penalty and the driver's licenses for DREAMERS. It really does make him look like a weak governor (which doesn't surprise me). His whiny attitude doesn't make him look any better either.

Re: 104th Nebraska Legislature (2015)

Posted: Fri May 29, 2015 8:44 pm
by nativeomahan
Ricketts has proven surprisingly inept so far in his dealings with the Unicameral. His supporters can't be happy at his performance. But his detractors must be turning cartwheels.

Re: 104th Nebraska Legislature (2015)

Posted: Fri May 29, 2015 8:50 pm
by Linkin5
HR Paperstacks wrote:He's actually been overridden three times this session - the gas tax, the death penalty and the driver's licenses for DREAMERS. It really does make him look like a weak governor (which doesn't surprise me). His whiny attitude doesn't make him look any better either.
He seems like a little kid that is stomping his feet and saying no to everything he can, and in the process looks like a moron

Re: 104th Nebraska Legislature (2015)

Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2015 11:39 am
by Uffda
Nebraska's Governor Threatens to Execute Prisoners Out of Spite
After his state abolishes the death penalty, Governor Pete Ricketts vows to apply it to the ten inmates still on death row.


http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc ... te/394949/

Re: 104th Nebraska Legislature (2015)

Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2015 1:01 pm
by GetUrban
This could have a negative effect on economic development and whether a company or people want to locate in Nebraska...one of the things Rickets was supposed to champion. But that is secondary to the death penalty question, as it should be.

Re: 104th Nebraska Legislature (2015)

Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2015 9:39 pm
by S33
I'm not a huge proponent or opponent of the death penalty, and I'm also on the fence (well I am now) with governor Ricketts.

But, vowing to execute up to ten prisoners currently sitting on death row simply out of a spiteful stubbornness from, what I presume, is a billionaires mentality they achieve from always getting what they want, just seems like a really |expletive| up way to govern a state.

Maybe it's just me, but this seems like his way of playing "God".

Re: 104th Nebraska Legislature (2015)

Posted: Sat Jun 06, 2015 6:59 am
by MadMartin8
Uffda wrote:Nebraska's Governor Threatens to Execute Prisoners Out of Spite
After his state abolishes the death penalty, Governor Pete Ricketts vows to apply it to the ten inmates still on death row.


http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc ... te/394949/

The trust fund baby sure throws a temper tantrum when he loses his way.

Re: 104th Nebraska Legislature (2015)

Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2015 12:46 am
by RNcyanide
So Pete and Joe donated a total of $200,000 to the pro-death penalty cause. Is there literally nothing else in our great state of Nebraska that needs any more attention than this? Come the |expletive| on. :roll:

Re: 104th Nebraska Legislature (2015)

Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2015 9:50 am
by daveoma
RNcyanide wrote:So Pete and Joe donated a total of $200,000 to the pro-death penalty cause. Is there literally nothing else in our great state of Nebraska that needs any more attention than this? Come the |expletive| on. :roll:
Agreed

Re: 104th Nebraska Legislature (2015)

Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2015 11:02 am
by Coyote
When Ricketts runs for the Senate he will have a proven record to show Nebraskans what he stands for...
Everyone knows his term as Governor is the beginning of his campaign for the U.S. Senate...