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Vol. 79/No. 44 December 7, 2015
Nebraska rally: ‘Abolish the death penalty!’
Militant/Joe Swanson
LINCOLN, Neb. — Carrying signs reading “Execute justice, not people” and
“No one has put a rich man on death row,” some 70 people rallied outside
the state Capitol here Nov. 13. Most of them were students from
Lincoln-area high schools and the University of Nebraska. Some people
driving by honked in support of abolishing capital punishment.
The protest grew out of a classroom debate at the Lincoln Public Schools
Arts and Humanities Focus Program a few months ago. “We’ve attended
protests before, but this was the first one we organized on our own,”
said 17-year-old Jack Westerfield, who called the action along with
fellow student Roxanna Piersol. “We decided to protest against the death
penalty because the issue will appear on the November 2016 ballot. We
hope to educate people about its history in Nebraska, its impact on
families and the racial disparities in the number of executions.”
Christy and Richard Hargesheimer, 40-year veterans of Nebraskans for
Peace, spoke at the rally. They have fought to end Nebraska’s death
penalty since 1991. Nebraskans for Peace highlighted the fight to defeat
the pro-execution referendum at its Oct. 17 conference.
— JOE SWANSON
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