Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts calls for ‘smart’ criminal justice reform in Legislature

Ricketts is opposed to four "soft-on-crime" measures that he says would jeopardize public safety.

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – Gov. Pete Ricketts is calling for the Nebraska Legislature to pass “smart” criminal justice reform bills.

The reforms would allow Nebraska to better manage the inmate population and provide modern resources to prepare offenders for life after a prison sentence, Ricketts says.

In Ricketts’ weekly column, he talks about four “soft-on-crime” measures in the legislature.  He says that Sen. Seve Lathrop, Chair of the Judiciary Committee is holding reasonable policies “hostage” to promote the four other measures.

Ricketts says that these four “soft-on-crime” measures would jeopardize public safety.  The four measures include a policy that limits the use of consecutive sentences, two that would soften penalties for drug crimes and one that would end mandatory minimum sentences.

Last year, the Nebraska Criminal Justice Reinvestment Working Group collected data from the justice system and came up with 17 recommendations to better protect public safety and manage the inmate population, according to Ricketts.

The four “soft-on-crime” measures mentioned were not included in the 17 recommendations, Ricketts says.  He believes that the four measures should be outright abandoned.

Instead, Ricketts says the legislature should focus on the 17 recommendations that the group came up with.  They include measures to improve access to mental healthcare for individuals on parole or probation and provide transitional housing for Nebraskans recently released from prison.

“Now is the time for action, not antics, on public safety,” Ricketts writes.