Nevada lawmakers want to end death penalty
By Marcella Corona, Reno Gazette-Journal
Nevada lawmakers want to abolish the death penalty because of concerns over costs, sparking opposition from prosecutors and some victims’ families.
Nevada is among 32 states that allow death as a sentencing option. But no inmate has been executed since 2006 and none likely will be any time soon as the state struggles to replenish its supply of execution drugs.
Assemblyman James Ohrenschall and state Sen. Tick Segerblom, both Democrats, proposed Assembly Bill 237 in late February. The bill would end capital punishment and leave life without the possibility of parole as the state’s strongest punishment.
Currently, there are 82 death row inmates, according to the Nevada Department of Corrections. But the state has only executed 12 prisoners since the death penalty was reinstated in 1977.