No vote this fall on 18-year olds running for Legislature; questions raised on police body cams

Nebraska voters won’t be asked about letting 18-year-olds hold office in an election this fall. And a proposal to require written policies on police use of body cameras ran into questions in a legislative hearing.

Eighteen year-olds can vote in Nebraska, but you have to be 21 to run for the Legislature, and 30 to run for governor. Sen. Tyson Larson wanted to let voters decide if they want to change the state constitution to lower the minimum age for both to 18. Over several days of debate, Larson ran into resistance from those who thought the higher minimum age should be kept, as least for governor.

Thursday, with time running out before an attempt to break a filibuster and vote on the bill, Sen. Adam Morfeld offered a scaled-back proposal – an amended proposal to apply the lower minimum age only to members of the Legislature, no longer to governor and lieutenant governor.

But Sen. Ernie Chambers had vowed to do everything he could to stop the lower age requirement for any office. Chambers promised to file a series of parliamentary motions to block consideration of any narrowing of Larson’s proposal, and force senators to vote on the more sweeping measure. "When I tell you I can do something I can do it. If I tell you a hen dips snuff, look under her left wing and you’ll find tobacco stains. How in the world is he going to get to a vote when my priority motions will stop that from happening?" Chambers asked.

Larson tried to invoke cloture, to shut off debate and vote on the bill itself. Cloture requires two-thirds of the senators in the 49-member Legislature. He got a majority – 26. But with 18 senators opposed and the rest not voting, he fell short, killing the idea for this year.

Thursday afternoon, the Judiciary Committee heard Sen. Heath Mello‘s proposal which would require Nebraska police departments, if they use body cameras, to have written policies covering things like when they would be used and how long video would be kept. Mello said what he called body-worn cameras are becoming important tools. "The nature of law enforcement across the country is being changed by the use of new technology, specifically the use of body-worn cameras," Mello said. "When implemented correctly, body-worn cameras can help promote transparency within law enforcements…but also importantly, (with) the general public."

Spike Eickholt of ACLU Nebraska supported the bill, but expressed reservations about policies that would leave it up to police when to use the cameras. "The nature of the body cameras allows for some discretion for police officers, and in some respects that’s sort of troubling," Eickholt said. "That gives, if you will, an officer or officers who are acting inappropriately a way out to not record these things, or perhaps to record them and just not document what actually happened, and hope that they aren’t viewed."

Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks expressed reservations about police using the cameras in people’s homes. "I feel like I need to tell my family ‘Don’t allow police to come in for whatever reason.’ And I’ve never said that before. I’ve always welcomed police in. I want to welcome and have a good relationship," Pansing Brooks said. "But if I’m going to be filmed and have anybody be able to see anything that’s going on and assumptions made that I don’t even understand, or can control, or know, then that’s a sad state of affairs."

And Jim Maguire of the Nebraska Fraternal Order of police cautioned lawmakers that the cameras could be used against them. "You are all involved in politics and politics can be dirty. Don’t think for a second that a political contender against you won‘t call us to have us pull you over. And then the first thing they’re going to say is ‘I want a copy of that video to see your behavior towards police," Maguire said.

The committee took no immediate action on the bill.