Lawmakers advance three prison bills

McCOOK, Neb. -- A trio of bills attempting to address Nebraska's prison issues gained momentum this week, at least in part, due to a riot at the Tecumseh State Correctional Institution this past weekend. LB 173, LB 605 and LB 598 were all placed on final reading Wednesday.

LB 173 intends to limit the use of the habitual criminal enhancement statute by applying it only to violent crimes and certain motor vehicle homicide crimes, effectively removing the mandatory minimum term in some situations and allowing for increased "judicial discretion in fitting the sentence to the crime" and the offender.

According to the bill's statement of intent, a mandatory sentence must be served day-for-day with no allowance for good time, which means there can be no eligibility for parole consideration during a mandatory minimum sentence.

The legislation drew comments in opposition from Chief of Police Isaac Brown this morning during the Chamber of Commerce weekly legislative conference call.

"It would weaken our criminal justice system and put our citizens at risk," said Chief Brown. Chief Brown raised concerns pertaining to habitual criminals repeatedly burglarizing businesses and residential properties with no concern for a lengthy prison sentence, due to mandatory sentences only applying to "violent" crimes.

District 44 Sen. Dan Hughes said the legislation "just squeaked by to pass to final reading," adding it drew attention due to three senators coming out in support of it at the last minute. He said Governor Pete Ricketts and the Attorney General's Office were both opposed to LB 173.

Sen Hughes indicated he would be surprised if the legislation wasn't advancing towards a Gubernatorial veto.

Reflecting on the recent Tecumseh riot, Sen. Hughes said it was very unfortunate a couple inmates lost their lives, adding a couple of other inmates and a couple of prison guards were also injured.

Sen. Hughes indicated discussion pertaining to the state of Nebraska's prison system and its affect on the Tecumsah riot, often times, incorrectly attributed the level of overcrowding that was occurring.

Sen. Hughes said Nebraska's prison system as a whole is at 160 percent of capacity, while the Tecumseh facility was only at 105 percent capacity, adding it was important to make that clear.

LB 598 was also placed on final reading Wednesday. The bill intends to implement recommendations made by the LR424 Committee, pertaining to the use of segregated confinement. The legislation stems from the murder of four people in 2013 at the hands of Nikko Jenkins, which occurred within a month of his parole from a ten-year prison sentence.

The bill's statement of intent indicates Jenkins had been held in the prison's most restrictive segregated level of confinement, in a solitary cell, for the majority of his 10-year prison term because he was deemed too dangerous to live in general population. He was released from that long-term solitary-type confinement directly back into society without any transitional effort.

LB 605 advanced to enrollment and review Tuesday and was placed on final reading Wednesday. The original intent of the bill was to attempt to address prison overcrowding caused by low-level offenses; felony sentencing failures in regard to post-release supervision and restitution; and resource shortfalls in the parole system. Several amendments to LB 605 have been adopted since it was originally introduced.