Ernie Chambers Returns to Nebraska Senate

"Nebraska Senator Chambers Pushes for Death Penalty Repeal," is the AP report, via KOLN-TV.

A state lawmaker who fought for years to abolish the death penalty in Nebraska is trying again.

Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha introduced a repeal measure on Wednesday, the final day for lawmakers to submit bills.

Chambers is an outspoken death-penalty opponent who has repeatedly tried to repeal the practice. He returned to the Legislature after a four-year hiatus imposed by term limits.

His measure would replace the death penalty with a sentence of life without the possibility of parole. In the bill, Chambers rails against the death penalty as a failure that has harmed the state's reputation for fairness, decency and the dignity of human life.

Chambers, a long-time Nebraska legislator, was widely regarded as a master of procedural rules in his previous service.  He is also often acknowledged to be the primary reason term limits were imposed on state legislators in the state.