OMAHA — The Nebraska Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen was wrong to stop registering voters under a new state law eliminating the two-year wait for people who have served a sentence for a felony conviction.

The court did not decide the constitutional question raised by Evnen and Attorney General Mike Hilgers — which branch of state government has the authority to set the timing of when people who have served a sentence for a felony conviction can vote.

Evnen and Hilgers, in an advisory legal opinion that Evnen cited in deciding to ignore Legislative Bill 20, argued that only the executive branch’s Pardons Board that they and Gov. Jim Pillen serve on can constitutionally restore a person’s civil rights.

Lawyers from ACLU Nebraska, arguing on behalf of Civic Nebraska and two Nebraskans prepared to register to vote, argued that the Legislature has case law and past practice on its side in setting the timing of when someone can legally vote.

One of them is Gregory Spung of Omaha, a plaintiff in the case, who plans to register as a nonpartisan voter. He had registered online before Evnen’s decision and retracted it after Evnen’s decision. He said in a statement that he was “ecstatic.”

“For so long, I was uncertain if my voice would truly count under this law,” Spung said. “Today’s decision reaffirms the fundamental principle that every vote matters. It’s a victory not just for me, but for thousands of Nebraskans.”

The other plaintiff, Jeremy Jonak of Wood River, who plans to register as a Republican, said the decision lifted “a weight off my shoulders” and that of other Nebraskans who had been waiting. He said people had earned a second chance.

“The truth is most of us are just trying to live our lives and leave the past behind us,” Jonak said. “Thanks to this decision, we get to have a say as part of our communities.”

Neither Evnen nor Hilgers had an immediate comment Wednesday. An Evnen spokeswoman said a press release was coming Wednesday afternoon. A Hilgers spokeswoman said they were reviewing the ruling and would have a statement soon.

The narrower ruling means the court could not find five justices who agree on the constitutionality or unconstitutionality of LB 20 or its predecessor, LB 53 from 2005. LB 53 had restored voting rights two years after serving a criminal sentence.

Under Nebraska’s constitution, it takes five justices to declare a law unconstitutional. Because the court did not rule the law unconstitutional, Evnen and Hilgers are likely out of time to stop registrations for the Nov. 5 general election, now less than three weeks away. 

The court essentially took the simplest of the arguments ACLU lawyer Jane Seu made during oral arguments in late August: that Evnen and Hilgers should have known that the law of the land is the law of the land until a court rules it unconstitutional. 

The ruling means the thousands of people that voting rights advocates said were poised to be newly registered will get their chance, if advocates can execute a plan they discussed to let people know they can now register to vote this fall.

Seu called it “justice.”

“Given the sheer scale of disenfranchisement that this decision corrects, there is no question that it will be remembered as one of our state’s most consequential voting rights decisions,” she said in a statement Wednesday.

RISE, a re-entry program for incarcerated Nebraskans and others in the justice system, has said more than 7,000 people could be newly eligible to vote. Several have discussed the importance of being able to participate fully as key to re-entry efforts.

Thousands more who were also in limbo after Evnen’s move got the reassurance that their voting rights are still sound, the people who had waited two years under the 2005 law and had already registered to vote — and in many cases voted previously.

The time to register voters is tight. Friday is the last day for Nebraskans to register to vote by mail or online for the 2024 general election. The deadline for registering in-person at a county elections office is Oct. 25.

Civic Nebraska, part of a group trying to organize and register voters in time, the Voting Rights Restoration Coalition, said partners would be calling, texting and reaching out to voters to make sure they know of the ruling and their rights.

“From now on, every eligible voter in our state can exercise their constitutional right to participate in our democratic system,” said Steve Smith, a spokesman for Civic Nebraska.

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When she first arrived on campus, Natalie Potts didn’t expect to play much during her freshman season with Nebraska women’s basketball. Knowing the kind of challenge that awaited her in Lincoln, she didn’t want to get her hopes up.

Her mom, Sharon Potts, expressed concerns about her daughter’s readiness to compete physically with the other members of the Nebraska frontcourt while Coach Amy Williams was recruiting the 6-foot-2 forward out of O’Fallon, Missouri.

However, Williams and her staff saw something special in Potts. They believed in her ability to make an immediate impact.

“If you watched Natalie play even in the recruiting process, she plays with a motor and she just has that knack for game-winning plays, hustle plays,” Williams said at Big Ten Media Days. “I can remember coming home from watching her and saying, ‘I know she had double-figure deflections.’ I would lose track of how many times she’d get her hands on balls and just make hustle plays. That motor, it translates.

“So we felt very confidently that she would be able to make an impact on our team and we don’t recruit anybody into our program if we don’t believe they have that ability to have a positive impact for us, and she was no different. We believed in her from the moment she signed those papers, and we started to see some really good flashes early in her career that she was gaining confidence as well.”

The motor Williams described showed itself in Potts’ 5.5 rebounds per game, five double-doubles and 1.7 stocks (steals plus blocks) per game. She tied Nebraska’s Big Ten Tournament record with nine blocks in four games as the Huskers made a run to the conference title game. Potts said she loves running and, more importantly, she loves winning.

“I’ve always had a high motor,” said Potts, who represented Nebraska at Big Ten Media Days alongside senior Alexis Markowski. “Growing up, I was top of the press whole games, running with my head chopped off like I was a chicken. It just keeps me going, it brings energy to the team, and I think that’s a big momentum booster.”

Potts started all 35 games and was third on the team in scoring at 10.2 points per game in addition to her work on the glass and on defense. She won Big Ten Freshman of the Week eight times, and at the end of the season the coaches voted her Big Ten Freshman of the Year while the media voted her as an honorable mention All-Big Ten selection.

“She’s just a nonstop go-getter,” Markowski said. “She’s constantly trying to find a way to get another rebound, an offensive rebound. If you need a tough basket, Natalie’s your girl to go finish one. I think where I’ve seen her impact the game the most is defensively. She gets a lot of deflections; she’s really long.”

Isabelle Bourne left some big shoes to fill at the four spot as a three-year starter, captain and honorable mention All-Big Ten selection, and Potts felt the nerves early when Williams put her in the lineup from day one. By the end of the season, however, her production wasn’t far off what Bourne had given the Nebraska women’s basketball team.

“At first I was definitely nervous being thrown into that starting spot, but after a few games I got very comfortable with the system and playing with everybody,” Potts said. “They all have a lot of trust and confidence in me, which makes it super easy to get out there and get after it.”

Potts didn’t have to do much to earn her teammates’ trust; she won them over quickly by being herself. However, Markowski pointed to the Huskers’ 87-81 win over Maryland on Dec. 31 as a turning point for the freshman. She put up 17 points and a career-high 13 points in the victory.

“Natalie, you can just trust her,” Markowski said. “She just has this very calming presence about her. When she came in as a freshman, I just knew right away she would do big, great things … I think she had a lot of sparks in games, but I think the Maryland game was huge … It was a big game for us too; I think that was the second time we’ve ever beat Maryland, and she had such a great game, and I felt like she consistently played like that the rest of the year from that moment.”

Potts said she far exceeded her expectations for herself during her freshman year, and after an offseason focuses on polishing up key areas (most notably her 25.4% 3-point clip), she’s looking to take a step forward in year two as a Husker.

“With Natalie, the things we’ve talked about, the things that she has identified in postseason meetings and offseason that she wants to improve on is just a little extended range and consistency with her range,” Williams said. “She’s been working really hard and looking good from behind the arc.

“Her ball-handling skills have just continued to get better. She’s showing confidence going over either shoulder when her back is to the basket. Just dribbling, right and left hand, and making decisions off the dribble, just some things that as she’s now more comfortable in our system, she’s just able to take the expanded skill set that she’s worked hard to develop this offseason.”

Potts didn’t arrive at Nebraska expecting to play much, but after a stellar freshman season, whatever doubts she may have had are gone. The Huskers are looking to build off last year’s NCAA Tournament win and make a deeper postseason run in 2025, and to make that happen they’ll need Markowski and Potts to lead the way.

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) – The top collegiate men’s basketball coaches in Nebraska are coming together for a cause: cancer awareness.

It’s a rare sight to see Creighton head coach Greg McDermott, Husker head coach Fred Hoiberg and UNO head coach Chris Crutchfield all sitting on the same side of the bench.

However, when it comes to the fight against cancer, they’re on the same team.

The coaches hosted a breakfast benefitting Hope Lodge Nebraska: a home away from home for cancer patients traveling great distances for cancer care.

“It’s touched my life tremendously,” said Crutchfield. He lost his mother to cancer.

McDermott’s wife, Theresa, is a survivor.

Each basketball season, his team hosts a “Pink Out Game,“ raising money and awareness for the disease.

“The options that are available today to cancer patients that were not available five years ago let alone 20 years ago, it’s absolutely incredible,“ McDermott said. “It’s why we have to continue to research this disease and why we have to continue to raise money to fight this disease and then, like we are today, the money is going to have a real impact.”

The lodge houses patients and their families completely free.

“You think we’re all enemies and we hate each other. We actually like each other,” Hoiberg said. “We’re very competitive on the court but this is what it’s all about. Coming together and raising money for a great cause like this.”

This is the first year for the event and they plan on doing it again.

According to the American Cancer Society, the risk of dying from cancer has steadily declined over the last 30 years.

However, at the beginning of the year, the society anticipated 2024 would be first time new cases of cancer are expected to cross the 2,000,000 mark.

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