Nebraska State Senator Colby Coash wrote an article describing the state of the death penalty in his state. Senator Coash, a conservative from Lincoln, NE, used to support the death penalty enthusiastically but has since become opposed to it. He said,
Twenty years ago, as a college freshman, I attended an execution. I celebrated. I stood outside the prison, drank beer with other death penalty enthusiasts, and thought that justice had been served.
Since then, I’ve become a conservative state senator in Nebraska. I am pro life, I believe in limited government, and I know that many expensive government programs fail to achieve their goals. I have learned how the death penalty violates conservative principles I hold dear. If I had known what I know now, about how the death penalty really affects states, I would not have been able to celebrate.
