US Death Penalty Opponents Campaign in Nebraska Before Key 2016 Vote - NGO

Advocacy group Equal Justice USA Executive Director Shari Silberstein said that opponents of capital punishment plan an educational blitz across the US state of Nebraska before state residents decide in a referendum next year whether to scrap the death penalty.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Opponents of capital punishment plan an educational blitz across the US state of Nebraska before state residents decide in a referendum next year whether to scrap the death penalty, advocacy group Equal Justice USA Executive Director Shari Silberstein told Sputnik.

"A strong team of top Republican campaign strategists is coming together to begin this dialogue with the people of their state," Silberstein said on Tuesday. "Nebraskans now have 12 months to learn about this failed policy."

On Monday, another US advocacy group Nebraskans for the Death Penalty submitted the proper number of signatures to postpone the repeal of the Nebraska death penalty, putting a referendum on the issue onto the 2016 election ballot.

"The more people learn about the death penalty, the less they like it," Silberstein noted. "Everywhere you turn, people are reconsidering their views on the death penalty."

The National Association of Evangelicals, Silberstein pointed out, released on Tuesday a new position on the death penalty that moved the Protestant Christian body toward a more nuanced view that recognizes growing concerns and opposition to the issue.