Most Nebraskans voted to abolish slavery as criminal punishment. But 32% voted to keep it
OMAHA — The good news: Nebraskans voted this week to eradicate from the state’s Constitution the provision that slavery could be used as punishment for crimes.
The bad: An electorate the size of Lincoln said they were OK with punitive slavery.
The results left the architect of the constitutional amendment — State Sen. Justin Wayne of Omaha — scratching his head. On the one hand, Nebraska didn’t need two tries to strip prison slavery from its Constitution as Colorado did, finally passing it in 2018.
On the other hand, 274,138 Nebraska voters — nearly 1 out of 3 — effectively decided they weren’t ready to eliminate slave labor from prisons.
Read more: https://journalstar.com/news/state-and-regional/govt-and-politics/most-nebraskans-voted-to-abolish-slavery-as-criminal-punishment-but-32-voted-to-keep-it/article_04c5e813-6256-5e2e-8cc1-349972729d64.html
(Lincoln Journal Star)