According to omaha.com, Retain a Just Nebraska sent a letter to the Nebraska Broadcasters Association asking it to stop running a pair of public service announcements produced by Secretary of State John Gale.
Darold Bauer, campaign manager for the group, said the radio announcements fail to say that the Nebraska Legislature repealed the death penalty and replaced it with life in prison without parole. Research shows that public opinion changes “drastically” based on whether or not the alternative of life imprisonment exists, he added.
“The current ad ... is nothing more than a state sponsored political ad which violates the trust of the public, the intent of numerous campaign laws, and may be a violation of state and federal law,” Bauer wrote.
Jim Timm, director of the Nebraska Broadcasters Association, said the organization will not discontinue the ads. The scripts were written by Gale and carefully reviewed so as not to sway voters either way on the issue, he added.
Timm pointed out that the public service ads are available to radio stations statewide to broadcast as they see fit. The $3,500 campaign does not come with a guarantee that the ads will air a minimum number of times.
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