Nebraska abolishes death penalty

Nebraska has become the 19th US state to abolish capital punishment as legislators narrowly voted to override the Republican governor’s veto of a bill repealing the death penalty.

The state’s unicameral legislature voted 30-19, the exact number of votes needed to override Governor Pete Ricketts’ veto, to replace capital punishment with a term of life without parole.

Nebraska became the first majority Republican state to repeal the death penalty since North Dakota in 1973.