Thread by @jessicaschulb

i wrote about how nevada democrats, which control both chambers of the legislature and the governorship, squandered a rare opportunity to abolish the death penalty huffpost.com/entry/nevada-d…

2 dem lawmakers w/a lot of power over the bill's advancement also work for the Clark County District Attorney, who testified against abolition and is currently trying to schedule the state's first execution in 16 years

but the bill seems to have been derailed by Gov. Steve Sisolak, who says the death penalty should be allowed for extreme cases, like Stephen Paddock, who killed 60 people at a music festival

that response makes sense on an emotional level, but Paddock is already dead (he killed himself, as mass shooters often do) — and Sisolak has wavered on things that could actually prevent these kinds of massacres, like restrictions on assault weapons thenevadaindependent.com/article/indy-q…

grateful to Cynthia Portaro and Monique Normand, who talked to me about why they didn't want the death penalty for the people who killed their loved ones. a lawmaker who backed the abolition bill told me they were a key part of why the bill got as far as it did