Next month, Nebraska and Oklahoma voters will go to decide state initiatives on the death penalty. In general, the trend in America is heading away from capital punishment.
As the Omaha World Herald notes, Nebraska is one of 20 states that have done away with the death penalty. Eight of those 20 states have done so in the last decade.
On November 8th, Nebraskans will vote on whether to reinstitute the practice. Meanwhile, Oklahomans are voting on whether to enshrine the death penalty in their state constitution.
As reported in Politico,if every state that has a ballot initiative considering the death penalty votes no this year, the number of states banning capital punishment will reach a new high of 21.
California is also considering banning the practice this year. Michigan was the first English-speaking government in the Western World to ban capital punishment, back in 1846.