A Love Letter to American Voters

 

By Marilyn Moore

Dear American Voters,

Thank you.  On November 3, 2026, you showed up.  In a crucial midterm election, you fulfilled that most important responsibility of American citizenship; you voted.  In the weeks ahead of election day, many of you voted early.  You stood in long lines to do so.  For some of you, voting early meant you didn’t have to take off time from work on election day.  For some of you, voting early worked better with a family schedule that includes kids’ activities, volunteer commitments, medical appointments, and a host of complications known only to the voter.  But you made it a priority, and you voted.

Some of you voted by mail, or by a ballot that you requested by mail and then dropped off at a secure ballot drop box.  For some of you, the physical challenges of getting out of the house and into a voting facility are daunting, so you voted in a way that worked for you.  It meant planning ahead of time, requesting that mailed ballot, and finding a way to return it.  But you made it a priority, and you voted.

For some of you, you voted in person, at the polls, on election day.  While there, you saw your neighbors, the people that live on your block, across the street, or a few blocks away, all standing in line to vote.  In some rural parts of the state, “neighbor” stretches for miles, and people drive miles to reach that polling place.  Lines were long.  In some cases, more voting booths and more ballot sleeves had to be brought in.  In some cases, the lines were still there at the official time to close the ballots, but people stayed in line, because federal law says that if you’re in line when the polls close, you still get to vote.  In some areas of the country, polling places from previous elections had been shut down, or moved; people found the new location, and they made their way there.  Some people were concerned that there might be an ICE presence or military presence at the polls, even though that is explicitly prohibited by federal law.  But you made it a priority, and you voted.

Voter turnout was greater than expected.  In our home county, Lancaster, in Lincoln, Nebraska, the election commissioner projected that 52% of the registered voters would vote.  That was the turnout four years ago, in the 2022 midterm election. This year, more than 60% of registered voters voted, way exceeding the projection.  That happened over and over in cities and counties across the country.  You made it a priority, and you voted.

There were so many things that drove the voter turnout this election.  My friend and fellow blogger Mary Kay Roth exhorted us last week to vote our hopes, not our fears.  I suspect that both hopes and fears were at play in this election turnout.  There were national issues, like funding for healthcare and nutrition assistance,  and vaccine information and disinformation from the FDA, and treatment of people who are being deported, and the cost of just about everything, and data centers and AI and the role of billionaires in all of these.  There were international issues, like the war with Iran, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, relationships with our traditional European and North American allies, and longstanding American programs to support health and life among the poorest of people in developing countries. There were constitutional issues, like voting rights, and separation of powers, and limits on the executive branch, and corruption.  Hopes and fears were wrapped up in each of these…and because of that, you made it a priority, and you voted.

You also demonstrated that in an election cycle with some of the ugliest and relentless campaign ads ever, the candidate with the most money doesn’t necessarily win.  Elon Musk spent more than $400 million in the last two weeks of the election; the candidates he supported did not win.  You, dear American voters, paid attention to your own values, hopes, and fears, and found the candidate that was the best match for you. You turned down the noise, you made it a priority, and you voted.

And the outcome?  Well, generally, on a national level, it was a repudiation of the present administration.  The president urged people to vote like he was on the ballot; I believe that is what happened.  Not every candidate that I supported won.  Many did.  The most significant outcome is a demonstration of the power of the collective American voice to speak through the ballot box.  That is what democracy looks like.

I do not expect that all the issues that drove Americans to the ballot box will be resolved on the day after newly elected officials are sworn into office, or even within the first year.  The President is still the President, and he will hold that office for two more years.  Congress can take action to constrain or direct foreign policy and the Iran war.  Congress can restore funding for health care insurance premiums and SNAP benefits.  Congress can hold hearings on corruption and the theft of personal data by DOGE employees and the mysterious shutdown of satellite transmission in Ukraine as Russian drones were headed to that country.  Congress can enact more stringent requirements on policies enacted by the Department of Health and Human Services, especially regarding information and policies about health.  Congress can enact some boundaries and constraints on data centers and the use of AI.  Congress can impeach and convict federal officeholders who are charged with high crimes and misdemeanors.  

While Congress can do all these things, some are far more likely than others, and none will be done quickly.  The price of gas will not drop suddenly after January 3, nor will the price of housing.  Hospitals and nursing homes closed by reductions in Medicaid payments will not magically reopen.   ICE is still funded, and the promotion of Stephen Miller to the role of Chief of Staff does not bode well for a lessening in cruel detention practices.  American citizens will still need to be watchful, to contact their representatives, to pay attention and to speak up.  However, bills will be drafted and introduced to address many of the issues that drove voters to the polls, and there will be debate, and members of the House and Senate will have to take a stand.  Nominees for federal court judgeships will receive more in-depth review.  And because of you, dear American voters, our Representatives and Senators know that the American people are watching, that we care about what happens, and that we vote.  

This is a love letter to the American voters.  “Love” is a strong word, way stronger than “like.”  “Love” implies a commitment, a promise for the long haul, and a willingness to stick with it, through good times and bad.  On Tuesday, November 3, millions of Americans demonstrated love of country.  They made it a priority, and they voted.  And that’s worth a “love.”

Your fellow American voter,

Marilyn

P.S.  And a note of thanks to the courts, from state courts to US district courts to Circuit Courts of Appeals, who systematically protected the right to vote from concerted efforts by some to prevent people’s access to the ballot.  These judges, some very experienced and some very new, some appointed by Republican presidents and some appointed by Democratic presidents, consistently noted the fundamental right of American citizens to vote and rejected impediments that would be a barrier.  Thank you, Judges!

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You gotta believe

 

By Mary Kay Roth

This year I drew the slot for writing a 5WomenMayhem blog just a few days before the mid-terms.

In fact, two days until our election.

So, normally at this time I would tell everyone to vote.

And, normally, our blog readers would then report they’ve already voted – or, of course, they plan on voting. 

This year, that’s not good enough.

On Nov. 3, millions of Americans will vote to decide control of the House of Representatives and Senate, as well as the governorships in 36 states and state legislatures across the country. The results could easily impact Donald Trump’s remaining time in office, as this election is broadly considered a national verdict on the president.  

According to political experts, yes, at least one-fourth of all mid-term voters will cast their ballots early. But that means 75 percent of voters will cast their ballots this Tuesday.

So, I’m giving you a two-day call to action.  Over the next 48 hours, take a few steps beyond voting …

• Set up a plan for taking someone to the polls who is registered but who otherwise might not go vote. Every political analyst agrees on at least one thing this year:  It’s going to matter how many people vote.
• Even if you have donated to your favorite candidates in Nebraska, get out your billfold and send $25 – now – to one of the key races in other states that will likely determine who controls the Senate. (Suggestions at the close of this blog.)
• You still have time to volunteer. Give two hours of the next 48 hours to phone banks – providing transportation to voters – poll watching. 
• Believe. Hope,

Granted, we head into November’s midterms on the heels of years of lies and attacks designed to undermine confidence in our elections. These days, many people tell me voting doesn’t matter anymore.  Our votes don’t count. 

I am choosing to believe they are wrong.

For the past couple years, I’ve worked at the polls on election day, welcoming, checking off names, asking for identification, handing out ballots, giving direction.

Serving on election day is one of the coolest gigs I’ve ever had. 

It goes beyond civic duty.  

Where I work on election day, voters come in all sizes and shapes, ages and ethnicities. Yet they are polite and considerate with one another. Patient. Proud to be voting. 

We applaud young, first-time voters – as well as refugees and immigrants who are brand new citizens. 

Perhaps we should applaud every single voter who shows up.

People throughout American history have fought and died for this simple act of casting a ballot. Their spirit resides in our collective heritage, a history of sacrifice for the right and responsibility to vote. 

So, I choose to honor that legacy.  I choose to keep the faith in our imperfect but hopeful democratic system.

We got ourselves into this mess, we can get ourselves out.

Our ballot is a tool for change, a testament to the resilience of our democratic republic, the very minimum asked of us as citizens.

This Tuesday, respectfully, I ask you to vote.  

But I’m asking for more: Vote, donate, volunteer.

And, most importantly, you gotta believe.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

The Cook Political Report is an independent, non-partisan newsletter that analyzes elections and campaigns.  They identified seven key races that will likely determine who controls the Senate.  (Democrats need net gains of at least four seats in the Senate to flip.)

Alaska: Republican Sen. Dan. S. Sullivan and Democrat Mary Peltola

Iowa: Republican Ashley Hinson and Democrat Josh Turek 

Kansas: Republican Sen. Roger Marshall and Democrat Adam Hamilton

Maine: Republican Sen. Susan Collins and Democrat Troy Jackson

Michigan: Republican Mike Rogers and Democrat Abdul El-Sayed 

Ohio: Republican Sen. Jon Husted and Democrat Sherrod Brown

Texas: Republican Ken Paxton and Democrat James Talarico

*From 1976 to January 5, 2021, more than 85 U.S. Senate elections were decided by less than 3 percent of all votes cast.

SNAP Crisis Hits Close to Heart and Home

By Karla Lester

Our own brand of hunger

hunger is a symptom of an underlying cause, 

hit and miss food availability,

no way to access food ourselves,

though we got really resourceful,

though we had safety nets,

we never had snacks like other kids,

we never had breakfast,

the most important meal of the day,

hunger felt like the very physical sensation that it is,  

hunger felt like deprivation.

I’m a pediatrician, child health advocate, social media doctor and a food advocate who grew up with food insecurity. I’ve made several videos advocating for SNAP benefits and against the harms of H.R.1 or the OBBB. One year ago, during the government shutdown, Nebraska threatened to withhold SNAP benefits. In October, 2025 I made a video on TikTok about what was happening and shared my story of growing up with food insecurity. 

“I grew up with food insecurity. My Mom was a single Mom. When my parents got divorced, my Mom fell into a deep depression. It was betrayal trauma and my sisters and I went from having an idyllic life to one where our Mother had severe depression, trauma and then we suffered from that too. She had been a stay at home Mom, fantastic cook, who then had to go back to work, more than one job. It’s just when you have a mental illness. When you don’t have the energy. She did as much as she could do, but food was hit and miss. So, we had food insecurity. We had the supports that a lot of kids and families don’t have. But, if you know what it’s like to grow up hungry, because I do. It’s not fun. It rules the day. Being hungry means that’s what you’re thinking about the whole day. So, let’s ask any of these people who are making these decisions, did you grow up hungry? The answer is going to be no.”

The comment section highlighted what Nebraskans were dealing with. 

“I am so scared. So now I am sharing recipes I make from food pantry items in hopes of helping others get ideas on what to make. I am a full time college student, solo mom of three and left my husband last year after finding out he was abusing my kids when alone with them. I rely on SNAP to feed my kids while I am in school.”

“I’m donating food to low income seniors.”

“Politicians are supposed to work for the people not against the people.” 

“My husband had a stroke on September 25th and is currently unable to work. We just applied for SNAP to hopefully qualify for November. He has worked for the same employer since he was 17 and is now 39. We also have a 15 year old child. I believe EVERYONE deserves to never have to worry about where their next meal will come from. One medical event and we are facing not only food insecurity but also homelessness, and a hospital bill in the hundreds of thousands. I hate it here. Not just this state, but this whole damn country.” 

“Omaha gal here. It’s crazy the average working folk are the ones that are opening their pockets, already struggling, to give to other people. Why aren’t the local millionaires donating?!!”

“Seems like they are just going along with the administration, not representing their constituents in Nebraska.” 

Nebraska was the first state to enact work requirements for Medicaid and SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) or what was formerly termed food stamps. A rule change from the H.R.1, or what has been called the OBBB, which is the ugliest piece of legislation to hit the books, limited eligibility, created work requirements and created intentional chaos with a burden of paperwork. Making SNAP out of reach has made it hard for families. It’s not just putting food on the table so that Nebraskans can find a job, so that they can pay for housing and provide for their family. Hitting children and families on all fronts who are already down seems to be the goal. Gas prices continue to rise, making it more difficult for Nebraskans to get to work. H.R. 1 is an unprecedented hit to the infrastructure of healthcare and food access in America.

Nebraska Appleseed created a fact sheet that shows that as of August, 2026, due to H.R.1, or the OBBB, 40,000 Nebraskans lost access to SNAP. Half of all losses are children. 1 in 7 are children under 5. There’s been a 10.4% increase in food insecure Nebraskans and 27% increase in grocery prices since 2020. SNAP cuts hurt our economy and businesses. In May, 2026, Nebraska implemented new verification requirements and SNAP losses accelerated due to: 1. Expanded work requirements; 2. Cuts for Immigrant community members; 3. Verification requirements have led to eligible individuals and families losing SNAP. It’s a real cluster of chaos over at Ne DHHS. I ran across a video highlighting the logistical nightmare at DHHS. 

“If you live in Nebraska and require government assistance to be alive, and you’re like, where tf are my benefits and why is there no one to talk about it? They don’t know either. And they crashin out in the office…soooo..” 2 hr wait times just to get hung up on and the offices are short staffed, and/or don't have people employed there for that particular benefit.”

The comment section highlights the latest implementation snafus. 

“We have residents at my nursing home who have been waiting months and months for recertification”

“The system automatically hangs up on you after two hours of waiting. “I had the same thing happen to me. Two hours on hold just for them to hang up.”

“I spent maybe 10 hours on the phone with them to have my SNAP go from $119 to $24”

Why don’t people want to share their stories of hunger?

There are personal reasons. First, it feels shameful. It may feel traumatic and painful to revisit. For me, hunger isn’t the worst of what I endured, but the effects linger.  I have moved on to have a great life. I want to keep moving forward. There’s still so much hunger stigma out there, it’s not always healing to share it.  As strange as it seems, sharing my story feels like a betrayal of my parents. And, it’s not just my story to share. If I talk about growing up with hunger, I’ll get called out on my privilege. Or, it may seem performative. It’s a matter of pride to keep the secret. It’s my story to keep for me. All of these are valid reasons not to share a personal story of hunger. 

 

There are also cultural and societal myths surrounding hunger that are obstacles. As many comments on TikTok videos sharing stories, there are comments that perpetuate harmful hunger myths: 

• It’s solely up to parents to provide for their children. 
• They can get jobs.
• Leave it to the nonprofits and churches.
• Illegal immigrants are getting SNAP and Medicaid

All are debunked with data in the Nebraska Appleseed HR1 SNAP Impacts fact sheet. It’s easier to believe a political lie than it is to confront the reality of needs in the community. The fact is you don’t always know who’s hungry.  You have no clue. Whatever your biases are, they are likely off.  I guarantee that you have experienced hunger in your life. There are many different types of hunger- physical, emotional, spiritual to name a few. Community members experiencing hunger are not a problem or a cause to fix and solve. Hunger is a physical symptom of an underlying cause. Hunger is a crack in the structure of society. In the ACES or Adverse Childhood Experiences Survey, there are 10 questions that ask about traumatic experiences in the first 18 years of life. The higher the score, the more risk of developing physical, emotional and behavioral health conditions. The fifth question in the ACES survey is, 

5. Did you often feel that ...

You didn’t have enough to eat, had to wear dirty clothes, and had no one to protect you?

The very worst and most harmful part of growing up hungry is internalizing and believing you are not worthy of having even your basic human needs met. What the SNAP and Medicaid cuts are really saying to children, families, seniors and the most vulnerable Nebraska community members is they are not worthy. 

Growing up with adversity and hunger doesn’t make a human being resilient.  Having food does. Support, love, attachment, and external resources create resilience.

Silence doesn’t resonate with me or my values. Moving forward as a food advocate, take action and vote, volunteer, build political will with emails, calls, and on social media. Testify on bills at the Capitol to share your story of hunger if silence doesn’t resonate with you. Serve on boards of nonprofits. Donate food and money as you are able. Fill up your free little pantry with food if you are able to. Ask your neighbor if you can help them. Support candidates who are food advocates. 

To be honest, it’s hard to keep track of the political whiplash. Don’t get tired.  Stay out of judgment. You know nothing about what’s going on in people’s lives. Anytime you feed another person’s hunger you are healing the cracks. Do not feel pity.  Do something. Your donations and contributions matter very much. You will not fix and solve hunger, but you can nourish a lot of people who need it. You never know when you may need the help. 

We are Failing our Children

 By Elizabeth Flater 

Every school day morning, parents across America do a brave thing. They send their kids to school. They entrust their children’s teachers to teach them well and keep them safe. Each morning before I send my kids to school, I make sure I tell them I love them. I do my best to have calm and peaceful mornings, because God forbid something were to happen, what if our last morning at home was hard? We are all painfully aware that while they are likely to come home safely from school that day, not every child will. And that reality is beyond unacceptable. This is what Gen X and Millennial parents think about every day. 

This week we learned that our worst nightmares played out in Bend, Oregon. A 25 year old special education teacher was killed, along with three of her students. They were 5, 8 and 11 years old. Two others were wounded, and an entire community was traumatized. The shooter was a 16 year old, who had previously attended the school. The doors were locked. It didn’t matter. The locked doors did not keep this armed child outside. In the words of Sharon McMahon, “the school safety debate begins too late. It currently starts at the schoolhouse door. It should begin wherever teenagers get access to guns.”

There have been 52 school shootings in 2026 in the United States on K-12 and college campuses. That’s one school shooting every 5.5 days in America. The median age of a school shooter is 16. Black children are disproportionately affected. There have been 370 mass shootings so far this year in the U.S. Gun violence is the number 1 cause of death for American children - more than cancer and more than car accidents. 

According to the Washington Post, as of 2025, 389,000 children have experienced a school shooting. Every time it happens, the media reports the wounded and those killed. What is underreported is how many students and teachers were hiding, terrified, and traumatized. What also isn’t reported is how many families and loved ones are waiting on the news of whether their child or teacher is ok. Students who go through this kind of trauma are forever changed, and are also victims of these shootings.

In addition to being a parent that sends my three kids to school each weekday, I am a special education teacher. One of our own was gunned down this week. In August of 2012, while teaching in the Aurora Public Schools, our first day of teacher inservice was all about trauma and supporting our students and families that were affected by the Aurora theater shooting. 400 people were in the theater that night. 12 victims were killed, 70 more were injured, and everyone who walked out of there uninjured was traumatized. One horrific event, thousands of people affected. 

School security was heightened that semester, and we had several lockdowns. I remember being so afraid during one, and searching for information online to try and assess the danger, while keeping my students calm. Every time I had to knock on a locked classroom door to pick up students that semester, I was reminded of the threat that was always there. The last week of that semester, on December 14th, 27 first graders and staff were gunned down at Sandy Hook. 

We had a safety meeting that week with a school security staff member. I’ll never forget a teacher asking, “when we are hiding, should we have all of the students hold a book in case we could all throw them at a shooter to defend ourselves?” You need to know, these are the conversations that happen in schools. Should we arm our children with books to try and save ourselves from a child with an assault rifle? How far we have fallen. 

I have taken stock of my classroom, just like every teacher has, of what my plan will be should the worst come to our door. Could I get my students out the window if I had to? Should I get a key to that steel door that leads to the HVAC in my classroom? Where should the kids take cover in this wide open space? What could we use to fight back? Every American teacher has this on their mind. 

The Columbine High School shooting took place in the spring of my sophomore year of college. It shocked us all, a national tragedy of the worst kind. What shocks me even more, is that these devastating tragedies that have continued over the last 27 years have hardly moved the needle in our national policies on gun control, or what we value most.

Confession: I used to judge single issue voters. When citizens used to run down the ballot and vote only on their anti-abortion views, I thought they were ridiculous. Why make that the hill you’re going to die on? It’s never going to change, I thought. Boy, was I wrong. And now here I stand in 2026, pouring over the Moms Demand Action resources to help me decide my votes for the midterms. One of my own children has run from an armed man being chased by police across their playground. How could I vote any other way?

The gun lobby would like you to believe that gun control reform is unpopular. The facts do not support that. According to Pew Research Center, 79% of Americans support raising the minimum age to purchase a gun to 21. Gallup found that 56% of Americans favor stricter gun laws overall, and 52% of Americans support an assault rifle ban. We have the numbers, and we need to get to work.

Every year, Moms Demand Action works with lawmakers across this country pushing gun reform in state legislatures. They are a non-partisan, grass roots movement that makes incremental gains every year. The arc of justice is long and we can’t lose heart. We need all the moms and dads, grandmas and grandpas, aunties and uncles to get involved. Vote for common sense gun control reform candidates. Since 2024, Colorado has passed 11 laws that increase the safety of citizens. We aren’t finished yet, but every law could save a life. We have to keep pushing.

This is the right to life fight I have become a single issue voter for. If you are as fed up and sad as I am about this, please turn out and vote for common sense gun reform candidates this month. Get involved in a Moms Demand Action chapter in your town. We cannot accept that this is just how it has to be. This is a singularly American problem, and it doesn’t have to be this way. 

Find common sense gun reform candidates on your ballot: 

https://gunsensevoter.org/

Join the Moms Demand Action in Nebraska: https://www.facebook.com/MomsDemandActionNE/

Moms Demand Action Denver: https://www.facebook.com/MomsDemandActionCO/

Data: https://k12ssdb.org/all-shootings

https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/interactive/school-shootings-database/?utm_source=chatgpt.com

Are we better than the crimes we condemn?

By JoAnne Young                                                                    

It’s been a spine-chilling two weeks for those of us who oppose the death penalty ... maybe even for those who support or have mixed feelings about state-sponsored killing. 

 

A lot of people are talking about the Christa Pike failed execution attempt and the announcement about a plan to live stream a federal execution in December. People I have talked to say they are stunned, horrified, disturbed, and in disbelief. 

 

Martha Elliott, a journalist and author who lives in Maine, witnessed an execution 21 years ago and said she still has flashbacks of what she saw. It was unconscionable and barbaric, the worst thing she has ever seen, she said in an interview on WBAL-TV. 

 

We are a divided country on our feelings about the death penalty. A slight majority (52%) of respondents to Gallup’s annual Values and Beliefs poll said that they still consider the death penalty morally acceptable, down from a previous 54% record low in 2020. In 2016, 60% of Nebraska voters said they wanted to keep the death penalty in state law. 

 

While the death penalty isn’t high on the list of things most people think about on any given day, right now it can’t be avoided. 

 

On September 30, Tennessee botched the killing of Pike, and she survived two rounds of lethal doses of pentobarbital, meant to stop her breathing. Then on Thursday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed the Pentagon’s announcement that the firing squad execution of a man who killed 13 people in 2009 at Fort Hood in Texas would be live-streamed. People need to see the consequences of murder, he said. 

 

In the days leading up to Pike’s Tennessee execution, she said she feared complications from the lethal injection method Tennessee planned to use to kill her for a murder she committed 32 years ago when she was 18. She was aware she didn’t have good veins, and that could be a problem.

 

“I run through this execution every day in my mind, especially with the day coming closer,” Pike said in an interview with the New York Times. 

 

Her concerns were justified. The people who administered the drug didn’t get it right in two attempts. They stopped the procedure and Pike ended up in a hospital for ten days in critical condition and this weekend was back in prison, walking with assistance and struggling with memory and concentration and recovering. 

 

This is the worst example of something that has been building and building, and finally broke through to people who don’t spend their time wondering why states use the death penalty and why they do it with such a problematic way, said New York Times reporter Pam Colloff on The Daily podcast. 

 

Pike has spent three decades in prison, mostly in isolation, according to the Times. A written background of Pike’s case by Cornell Law School said that at trial, the “jury never heard about her mental illness, brain damage, and history of rape and abuse, even though all the evidence was available at the time of her trial. The jury likewise never learned about her bipolar disorder or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and how it affected her behavior at the time of the crime. Her attorneys never even argued that she should be spared due to her youth.” 

 

The two other people involved in the death of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, Pike's victim, did not get the death penalty. One was 17 at the time of the crime, slightly younger than Pike, and the other turned state’s evidence.  

 

The now former corrections commissioner in Tennessee Frank Strata has overseen two botched executions. When he served as deputy director in Arizona there were three, caused by the inability of those administrating injections to find a viable vein, the reliance on unqualified volunteers to administer the drugs, and reliance on compounders or unverified suppliers of pentobarbital. 

 

States are having to purchase execution drugs from some pretty sketchy sources, as political commentator John Oliver has said, and when drugs are tainted, or not formulated at the proper dosages, executions become a protracted nightmare of suffering that is unconstitutional. 

 

The Constitution doesn’t say, no cruel and unusual punishment ... unless they really deserve it, Oliver said. 

 

But let’s talk about Nebraska, which last executed an inmate, Carey Dean Moore, in 2018. The earth shifted a bit on that day in August as the state resumed executions after a 21-year de facto moratorium. Moore had been scheduled for execution eight times, and for at least the last 10 years of his life, he had decided not to fight it, tired of sitting on Death Row for 38 years after killing two Omaha cab drivers in 1979. 

 

I was covering the state’s prisons for the Journal Star that year, and had offered myself up to be a witness in the press pool for Moore’s execution. The state chose, instead, three white men. I appealed the decision, saying that a female reporter should be included to see things, maybe, from a different perspective. I lost the appeal, but was still at the prison that day and wrote multiple stories on what happened. I don’t know if I dodged a psychological bullet, but I still feel it’s important for prisons to have people with diverse backgrounds reporting on such important issues. 

 

Lisa Knopp, a death penalty opponent, had corresponded with Moore for 23 years, and after his death wrote a book about their friendship through 320 letters from him she had saved. “From Your Friend, Carey Dean Letters from Nebraska’s Death Row,” was published in 2022.

 

His execution used a first-time cocktail of drugs that included a high dose of fentanyl. One of the drugs, potassium chloride, had been challenged as having the potential to cause serious pain for an inmate.  Two drug companies had objected in federal court to any use of their drugs in Nebraska as part of the lethal injection protocol, but they lost those challenges. 

 

The state’s handling of Moore’s death on the day was also not without controversy, with the curtains closing to witnesses for 14 unaccounted-for minutes. 

 

Nebraska’s Legislature had abandoned the death penalty in 2015, first passing the bill and then overriding Gov. Pete Ricketts veto. The next year Ricketts supported a ballot referendum to negate the Legislature’s decision. A lawsuit filed by the Nebraska ACLU said Ricketts  "proposed, initiated, funded, organized, operated, and controlled" the petition drive for the referendum, lent government staff to the campaign, and, along with his parents Joe and Marlene Ricketts, provided 29 percent of the campaign's funds. The lawsuit was unsuccessful.

 

I talked to Lisa this week. She told me she wasn’t surprised about what happened to Christa Pike. There are more botched executions than people know. 

 

How do death penalty opponents reconcile their feelings about families of murder victims, like the mother of Pike’s victim? Many have said they would want to personally kill anyone who killed one of their loved ones. “But that should not be public policy,” Lisa said. “The government should not be in the business of revenge for people who have been hurt.” 

 

Also, it’s expensive, she said. How much money and grief would Tennessee have saved if they had put Pike in the general prison population with no possibility of parole and just left her there? 

 

This year is an important anniversary in Nebraska because it is the tenth year since Nebraskans voted to keep the death penalty, she noted. Twelve men are on Nebraska’s Death Row. As of June of this year, the state reported 677 inmates were serving time for homicide, all but those 12 with life sentences or less. Most prosecutors opt against seeking the death penalty, even for those crimes that qualify. 

 

I saw an interesting discussion responding to community comments of people who wanted to see Pike mutilated and tortured as her victim was, a sort of blood lust. But opposing the torture of a prisoner isn’t about protecting a murderer, it’s about protecting us, said Vinnie Politan, a legal journalist and former prosecutor. Our laws exist so that the state does not mirror the actions of the criminals it seeks to punish. Doing so would turn our justice system into a criminal enterprise. 

 

“We have to be better than the crimes we condemn,” he said. 

Brave Enough to Use Your Voice

 By Marilyn Moore

Two sisters were honored at the Inspire celebration recently as the Young Leaders of the Year.  They have advocated at the legislature for a bill to require that insurance companies cover treatment for persons who suffer from a rare disorder, Pediatric Acute-onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome, or PANS.  Violet and Belle, ages 11 and 9, are effective lobbyists; the bill passed convincingly.  In their acceptance speech at the awards ceremony, Violet said, “Sometimes, you just have to be brave enough to use your voice.”

Powerful words, there, and a powerful insight. It’s not easy to be brave, to use your voice, especially when you know that some who hear will not agree, will not understand, and will discount what you say.  And sometimes there is real danger, both physical and emotional, in using your voice.  

We’ve seen three examples of this in the news in the past two weeks.  Brave women, who experienced horrifying domestic violence and sexual assault, speaking out.  And hard as their stories of abuse are to hear, harder still is the additional line in the plot, that the institutions that are supposed to keep us safe, that is, police departments, sheriff’s offices, county and district attorneys, state governing boards, did not listen to the story, did not listen to their voice.

Maureen Brase, ex-wife of the deputy sheriff in Lancaster County, reported domestic abuse and violence committed by her ex-husband.  She reported it at the time it happened, a few years ago, and she made it public again as the election approaches; her ex-husband is running for Lancaster County Sheriff.  He denies all allegations.  The story was fully reported in the Lincoln Journal Star on September 27; check it out if you’ve missed it.

Earlier this week, Jody Snogren told her story of being threatened at knife point, tied to the bed, and brutally raped by her estranged husband; her children were at home, and heard it all .  He was charged, pleaded guilty, and sentenced to prison for 15 to 30 years.  He told her to watch her back.  He was released after 14 years; he applied for a pardon a few years later.  The Pardon Board in Nebraska is made up of three constitutional officers: the Secretary of State, the Attorney General, and the Governor.  On a 2-1 vote, the pardon was granted.  Then-Governor Ricketts, now Senator Ricketts, voted in favor of the pardon.  Jody’s assailant is now able to carry a firearm and has been removed from the sex offender list.  She told this story three years ago as the legislature considered a bill that would require the Pardon Board to listen to input from the victims when considering a pardon. She tells it again, now, as Senator Ricketts is running for reelection.

And in a story that has capture the attention of and horrified the nation, a former student at Cornell, Jane Doe, has filed a lawsuit, seeking to recover damages from night in which she was drugged and sexually assaulted by several men, repeatedly, and over a period of several hours.  She reported the assault to the University Police.  The Cornell administration took some action against the assaulters, though it’s not clear as to what those actions were.  The District Attorney declined to file charges.  She is seeking financial compensation from the assaulter and from the University and various organizations at the university.

As always happens when a woman reports an assault or abuse, her credibility is challenged. Questions are asked about her behavior, what she was doing, what she was wearing, why it took so long (however long “so long” is) to report the assault, why didn’t she just leave.  This has happened to Maureen, to Jody, and to Jane Doe.  It takes a lot of bravery to use your voice, and all three of them are very brave.

What is maddening to me beyond the assaults, and the assaults are outrageous, is that in each story, their voices were not heard. Sheriff Wagner can’t remember if members of his department interviewed Maureen.  He sure hopes they did…. When he labels her “just a woman scorned,” it’s hard to believe her voice would have been taken seriously.  

Jody was not notified that her rapist was being considered for a pardon; she was not given an opportunity to use her voice.  She found out about the pardon from a news story, that the man who had raped her and warned her to watch her back, had been pardoned…and she had had no opportunity to speak.  Senator Ricketts, then Governor, said that he made the best decision he could make at the time based on the information that he had.  Clearly, he did not see value in the voice of the woman who had been raped by the man seeking a pardon for that rape.  

The full account of Jane Doe’s report of the night of unending assaults was not reviewed by the District Attorney.  His office received a six-page summary of the university police department investigation. That investigation was extensive, including reports from many interviews.  It also included the clear statement from Jane, “I am 100% certain that I was raped.”  That sentence was not in the summary the DA received, and no one in his office talked to the woman who had been drugged and raped, for hours, by many men.  Her voice was not sought.  Her lawsuit makes certain her voice will be heard.  

There are other voices that are conspicuously silent in these stories.  Those are the voices of proponents, including Senator Ricketts and Governor Pillen, of the proposed Fairness for Girls constitutional amendment; it, too, will be on the Nebraska ballot in November.  This amendment seeks to protect girls on sports teams from trans girls who also want to play sports.  A hot-button issue, I get it.  And in Nebraska, it’s handled by state law, and the Nebraska School Activities Association.  But that’s not enough for the supporters of the amendment; they want constitutional language about it.  

These same supporters, however, have said nothing about fairness for victims of domestic violence whose abuser is a law enforcement officer running for a law enforcement office.  They have said nothing about fairness for the survivor of a brutal rape knowing that her rapist is seeking a pardon and having an opportunity to speak to that decision.  They have said nothing about fairness for a survivor of a most god-awful night of forced drugs and sexual assault not being asked by the district attorney to tell what happened to her, in her own words, in person.  Evidently that fairness is not as important as keeping trans-girls off sports teams.  

Violet and Belle are so right. Women can make a difference if they are brave enough to use their voice.  Maureen and Jody and Jane are brave, very brave.  And with that comes vulnerability, and most likely danger.  Their voices will make a difference, either in the next few weeks, or over the course of time yet to come, as women’s voices persist, gaining power and strength, each voice supported by and joined by dozens or hundreds or thousands of voices, speaking truth, bravely.  

There is, of course, one event where women’s voices are heard without discrimination. And that’s the voting booth.  Despite some recent proposals that would combine individual votes into a “family” vote, with the husband casting the vote for all, women have had the right to vote in this country for just over a hundred years. And we vote; since the 1980’s, women have voted at a higher percentage than men.  In that voting booth, women’s stories are important, and powerful, and cannot be ignored or uncounted.  Our voices through the ballot can shape elections, can shape futures, can take a stance on the importance of hearing women’s voices in all aspects of community life, especially in those circumstances where women are threatened, unsafe, and unheard.  When I vote, I’ll be thinking of Maureen, and Jody, and Jane. 

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I figure it’s not a bad thing to believe in butterflies

 By Mary Kay Roth

Languorous in their lofty flights on this late September morning, they delicately sail with the breezes, tumbling and gently quivering overhead.

I am stretched out on an autumn bed of damp grass, looking skyward, gazing up at 10, maybe 15 monarchs, flaming gold against the cloudless blue sky. Their wings seem to flow with bright orange lava, the edges and veins etched in black coal. 

Butterflies have bewitched me since I was a little girl.

Monarchs are the rock stars.

I remember spying on them and skipping after them, lured by their telltale burnished coloring – and those inexplicable white spots. As I child, I thought those spots were eyes and I wondered if they closed them at night. I wondered if butterflies dreamed.

Back then, I didn’t even know some of the best stuff: That the monarch migration is a wonder of the natural world. Their annual trek represents one of the longest cycles of movement undertaken by any creature on Earth, a journey they have embarked upon since the last Ice Age. 

But kids don’t care much about mundane stuff like that. They are simply enchanted with the flash and flutter of a monarch’s wing.

When I was a mere toddler, I watched my mother tutor my older sister in the fine art of capturing these gorgeous creatures – “euthanizing” them (adding ethyl acetate to a jar) – then stabbing them with stainless steel pins for mounting.

My sis was quite proud of her colorful butterfly collections.

Years later it was my turn.  So, one summer afternoon I reluctantly captured a lone monarch and placed it in a jar where my mom had added the dreaded, poisoned cotton ball.  

The tiny creature fluttered to the bottom of the jar, quiet, still.

And suddenly I sprang up, tore off the jar’s lid and ran outside to free the hapless creature. 

First and last time I ever captured a monarch.

“But Mary, they don’t live very long,” my mom attempted to explain.

Strange that even in those tender years I already knew what my soul was telling me: 

Monarch butterflies are a gift to grace our heart and how dare we shorten their lives by even a flicker in time.

I believe author Annie Dillard would surely have agreed, as I read her description of the monarch migration in Pilgrim at Tinker Creek: “It looked as though the leaves of the autumn forest had taken flight, and were pouring down the valley like a waterfall, like a tidal wave … It was as if the season’s colors were draining away like lifeblood, as if the year were molting and shedding ... And when the monarch butterflies had passed and were gone, the skies were vacant, the air poised.”

Right now, of course, they’re preparing to leave us.

These amazingly resilient characters will soon take a multi-generational migration south to reach the deep forests of Mexico – traveling unimaginable distances of 2,000 to 3,000 miles – careening through thunderstorms and headwinds – dodging birds, windmills and cars. 

Their delicateness belies a life cycle that more resembles a long-haul trucker, one scientist wrote, than anything you might read in a sweet children’s book.

Indeed, a monarch’s migration not only takes them up to heights of 10,000 feet – covering up to 100 miles a day – their rigorous journey takes them through a cycle of four generations. The generations that travel for miles, live for months. Those that dance in Nebraska over the months of spring and summer, only survive for weeks.

Perhaps that's why, when they’re here in the Midwest I feel responsible for them, planting seeds of bee balm, asters, coneflowers – and, of course, milkweed, the only place their caterpillars will lay eggs.

Of course, butterfly gardens are not nearly enough.

The swift uncertain nature of climate change, habitat loss, rise of temperatures, herbicides, loss of milkweed – have left the future of their migration in precarious balance. In the last two to three decades, the monarch population has declined by 80 to 95 percent.

And yet, a glimmer of hope flickers. 

For a recent story in Atlantic magazine, senior editor Vann R. Newkirk traveled to Mexico to witness the annual arrival of millions of monarchs and reported numbers had increased 64 percent from previous years. After decades of decline, he said, monarch populations are showing tentative signs of recovery, stabilization likely linked to conservation work in Mexico, the United States and Canada. 

Monarchs possess an incredible biological "dynamo of survival," Newkirk reported. “They may yet surprise us. For all their seeming fragility, monarchs will be extraordinary, capable partners in our efforts to save them.”

In fact, I could use a little hope right now, something to hang onto.  And I figure it’s not a bad thing to believe in monarch butterflies.

Ancient cultures across the globe saw them as departed souls, giving us faith for renewal. Spotting a monarch was good luck, symbolizing transformation, spiritual connection.

So, as I watch these gorgeous creatures on this mild September day, I realize I have learned much since I was young.

* That you call a flock of butterflies a kaleidoscope – how cool is that.

* That the white dots on their wings are not eyes. 

* That they don’t have eyelids, but they do sleep – under leaves, in the bark of trees, beneath deep grasses – in a  state called quiescence.

And I know for certain – I knew even as a child – these brilliant black-and-orange pilots are a gift we should not squander, because the natural world has much more to teach us. 

The monarch’s tenacity lives as a testament to endurance and survival. Their beauty, a reminder of the fragile lightness of letting go.

And if they dream, and I hope they do, perhaps that contented slumber is filled with visions of wildflowers, milkweed and children who still hold them dear.  

*** Gratitude to my friend, Tom White, for sharing his extraordinary photographs.