Emotional hearing shows difficulty of reforming Nebraska's justice system and prisons

LINCOLN — Strong emotions came out Wednesday as the Legislature returned to debate over prison overcrowding and criminal justice reform, offering reminders of why the issues have been so difficult in recent years for lawmakers to resolve.

Members of the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee heard from the families of inmates calling for a second chance for people who committed crimes as young adults.

They heard pushback against changes in criminal sentences from prosecutors and crime victims, including the mother of a woman recently shot and killed in Omaha.

And the chairman of the committee spoke passionately at the end about the heavy weight he carried after he and members of the panel earlier in the day had toured the Nebraska State Penitentiary.

Sen. Justin Wayne of Omaha talked of how he recognized the faces of numerous people he had grown up with in North Omaha who landed in prison because of school failure and a lack of opportunity and guidance. Children in his district today continue to follow that same path.

“That’s the burden I walk in here with every day,” Wayne said. “We have got to find the courage to stand up. . . . Overall, we’ve got to move the ball forward.”

Wayne had been set off near the end of the hearing after listening to prosecutors argue in seemingly contradictory terms against changes to criminal sentencing laws.

On one hand, they opposed efforts to limit the use of consecutive sentences, saying judges should have the discretion to decide when such sentences are appropriate. But prosecutors at the same time opposed limiting the use of mandatory minimum sentences, which tie the hands of judges.

Such disagreements over sentencing changes are what last year derailed a data-driven effort to overhaul Nebraska’s criminal justice system and reduce Nebraska’s worst-in-the-nation prison overcrowding.

With the Legislature and then-Gov. Pete Ricketts at loggerheads in 2021 over building a $270 million prison, the governor, lawmakers and the state judicial branch engaged with outside experts on a criminal justice reform study.

The result of that process was a set of 21 reform proposals, 17 of which received consensus support from the study group. However, the proposals that didn’t have consensus support included several changes to sentencing laws that the consultant working with the state found had the most potential to move the needle on Nebraska’s inmate numbers.

The failure of opposing sides to compromise on the sentencing changes in the end caused the entire package to fail last March.

Wayne and Sen. Suzanne Geist of Lincoln, the lead opponent to the sentencing changes, had agreed to work together to negotiate a package of reforms this year.

On Wednesday, the Judiciary Committee held hearings on two bills intended to serve as a starting point for those discussions, one from Wayne that included all of last year’s reform proposals and one from Geist that included only the consensus items.

Once again, there was wide support for the consensus items, which included expanding the use of drug courts and other special courts that help offenders confront their problems and avoid prison.

Bob Denton, deputy administrator of adult probation in Nebraska, said such problem-solving courts are currently serving nearly 700 Nebraska offenders daily. And 84% of those who have gone through the program have remained crime-free for at least three years.

“More are needed,” he said of the courts.

There was also support for creating restrictive housing options — short of returning to prison — for those who fail while on parole. In such housing, they would receive counseling, education and other services deemed necessary.

“It’s a starting point, and a good starting point,” Spike Eickholt of ACLU of Nebraska said of LB 50, Geist’s bill that includes the consensus items.

But he encouraged lawmakers to go further. Figures last year showed the provisions of LB 50 would have limited ability to slow Nebraska’s projected prisoner growth.

Based on current projections, even if Nebraska builds the new $270 million prison that remains on the table in Lincoln, the state still might need to build another prison before the decade is out.

The hearing showed sentencing changes still won’t be easy. At the heart of the debate was the balance between second chances and public safety.

Scott Hiser spoke of the unique perspective he’s gotten as a production supervisor for a private company that employs inmates in the State Penitentiary. He said he works every day with men he knows have been reformed after committing crimes years earlier, when they were young and impulsive.

“But they have no hope of ever seeing the light of day or making good on that,” he said.

But sentencing changes were opposed by the mother of an Omaha woman who was shot and killed in November. Amber Woods said those behind the death of her 20-year-old daughter, Karly, had repeatedly cycled through the criminal justice system.

“The system failed her, and it failed our family and failed the criminals themselves,” Woods said. “The whole thing is a mess.”

Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine and other prosecutors again spoke out against sentencing changes.

Kleine said many of the reform ideas, including reduced drug crime penalties, have been tried in other places and just produced additional problems, including rising drug addiction.

Geist said she wasn’t opposed to second chances, but it also has to be done in a way that protects the public.

“That is our responsibility,” he said.

Wayne vowed to continue to work for something that can slow the growth of Nebraska’s fastest-in-the-nation prison growth.

“We are going to work on a package we can move forward and all get behind,” he said.