[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----PENN., NEB.

[Rick Halperin]

March 4


PENNSYLVANIA:

House resolution urges Wolf to reverse death penalty moratorium



Tricia Wertz lost her husband to a gunman's bullet in 2006.

Now Wertz, 44, a mother of 2 from Reading, wants Scott Wertz's killer, Cletus 
Rivera, permanently removed from death row.

"I hope to see Scott's killer put to death in my lifetime," said Wertz, the 
widow of a plainclothes Reading police officer shot while responding to a 
convenience store fight.

She joined lawmakers, district attorneys, and other victims' families on 
Wednesday to back a House resolution urging Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf to reverse 
his recent suspension of Pennsylvania's death penalty.

The state Supreme Court has agreed to hear a challenge to Wolf's moratorium on 
executing 186 murderers on death row, filed by Philadelphia District Attorney 
Seth Williams, though it's not clear when the court will hear the case. Dauphin 
County District Attorney Ed Marsico said other prosecutors would file to 
support Williams' action, probably next week.

"The governor is standing with some of the worst criminals in Pennsylvania and 
against their victims," said Rep. Mike Vereb, R-Montgomery County, the 
resolution's sponsor. Because it is a resolution and not a law, "sure the 
governor can ignore it," Vereb said.

Wolf's spokesman Jeffrey Sheridan said the governor's decision to suspend the 
death penalty "is in no way an expression of sympathy for the guilty on death 
row, all of whom have been convicted of committing heinous crimes and all of 
whom must be held to account. The governor has nothing but the deepest 
appreciation for the work of victim advocates, and he sympathizes and stands 
with all those who have suffered at the hands of those in our society who turn 
to violence."

But Vereb said passage of the resolution would assure victims' families that 
"at least 102 members are supporting you." That's the majority needed to pass a 
bill in the 203-member House.

The House Judiciary Committee will hear from both sides of the issue March 26 
in Philadelphia.

Marsico said he and other death penalty supporters believe it requires a state 
law to block executions in a state.

Pennsylvania has executed only 3 inmates since restoring the death penalty in 
1976 and again in 1999. All 3 voluntarily stopped appeals.

Wolf announced the executive action banning executions after granting a 
reprieve to inmate Terrence Williams, who is on death row for beating a man to 
death in Philadelphia in 1984. Wolf said the state's death penalty system is 
error-prone and expensive. He plans to issue reprieves while a legislative 
panel studies the issue.

"The governor looks forward to carefully reviewing the report and 
recommendations of the Pennsylvania Task Force and Advisory Committee on 
Capital Punishment, a bipartisan task force established by the state Senate," 
Sheridan said.

Wertz said she supported Wolf for governor and would have voted for him but was 
away from home and didn't cast an absentee ballot. Despite his action on the 
death penalty, Wertz said she would probably still vote for Wolf because she 
likes his stance on other issues such as education.

(source: triblive.com)








NEBRASKA:

Murder victim relatives seek end to Nebraska's death penalty



Nebraskans whose relatives were murdered are calling on lawmakers to abolish 
the death penalty, saying it prolongs the suffering of victims' families and 
wastes tax dollars on endless appeals.

Relatives rallied at the Capitol on Wednesday came in advance of a legislative 
hearing on a bill to end capital punishment.

Miriam Thimm Kelle, whose brother James Thimm was murdered by Michael Ryan at a 
farm near Rulo in 1985, says the death penalty has distracted from the needs of 
victims' families.

The repeal bill was introduced by longtime Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha, who 
has fought for nearly 4 decades to end capital punishment.

Of the 33 Nebraska inmates sentenced to death since 1973, 3 have been executed.

The bill is LB268

(source: Associated Press)