As the jury in the trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the Boston Bomber, deliberated and ultimately recommended the death penalty, more states are slowly leaning away from the death penalty. Massachusetts abolished the death penalty in 1984. However, Tsarnaev’s trial was a federal one which allows for the death penalty. Nebraska is close to becoming the next state to abolish the death penalty. A final vote was taken to abolish it on May 20. All indication is that there are enough votes to ward off any possible veto by Republican Governor Pete Ricks. What is unusual is that Nebraska is a conservative state headed by a Tea Party Republican Governor who supports the death penalty. Other recent states that moved to abolish the death penalty included Maryland in 2013, Connecticut in 2012, Illinois in 2011 and New Jersey in 2007. In all, eighteen states have abolished the death penalty with a third of those states’ banning it since 2007. Connecticut and New Hampshire round out the six … [Read more...] about Is the Death Penalty Coming to an End in America?