LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A state lawmaker is looking to eliminate Nebraska’s tax on illegal drugs, saying it may violate constitutional rights and that virtually no one pays it until they’re caught.

Sen. Laura Ebke of Crete argued in a legislative hearing Wednesday that prosecutors use the tax law as leverage against criminal defendants who have already been caught with illegal drugs.

“Tax laws should exist, I think you could argue, to raise revenue deemed necessary for the operation of related public programs — not as a way to pile on to criminal defendants,” Ebke said.

Her proposal before the Legislature’s Revenue Committee would repeal a law that requires anyone with illegal drugs to buy a drug tax stamp from the Nebraska Department of Revenue. Ebke said the current law could infringe on constitutional protections against self-incrimination and double jeopardy.

Lawmakers approved the stamp requirement in 1990 in the midst of the national war on drugs.

A group representing defense attorneys supported the bill, while prosecutors and law enforcement officials opposed it. The Republican Party of Nebraska also criticized the bill and took a shot at Ebke, a former GOP activist who left the party in 2016 and re-registered as a Libertarian.

“Nebraska’s Marijuana and Controlled Substances Tax is an important tool for prosecutors working to punish and deter drug dealers, and is a demonstration of our state’s resolve against organized drug crime,” said Kenny Zoeller, the state GOP’s executive director. “That Laura Ebke wants to rob prosecutors and police of this tool demonstrates just how far she will go to force her party’s drug legalization agenda on Nebraska communities.”

Ebke stressed that the bill would not legalize drugs, prevent law enforcement from seizing drug money or hinder prosecutions. But she argued the state has only collected $13,110 from tax stamp sales between October 1991, when the law went into effect, and October 2017. Some of those stamps were bought by collectors who view them as a novelty item.

During that same period, Ebke said the state has received and distributed nearly $1.5 million from people who were forced to pay the tax after they were caught with illegal drugs.

“If I were a drug dealer, I wouldn’t go into a state office building where there are security cameras and purchase $50,000 worth of drug stamps,” she said. “This is a failed program. It’s not raising money. It’s not doing what we want it to do.”

Seward County Public Defender Tina Marroquin said she has seen no evidence that the tax on illegal drugs is hindering drug traffickers. Many people who are caught with drugs don’t realize they’re also violating a state tax law, said Marroquin, whose jurisdiction includes a stretch of Interstate 80, a major conduit for drug traffic.

Marroquin said prosecutors often the file drug-stamp charges on top of other drug crimes to gain leverage in a case, but usually dismiss them as part of a plea deal.

“It’s a throw-away charge,” she said.

Prosecutors and law enforcement officials said the law gives them a way to fight drug crimes, particularly major cases involving traffickers. Prosecutors disputed that the tax violates any constitutional rights.

“The tax stamp allows us to hit (dealers) in the pocketbook,” said Deputy Douglas County Attorney Jeff Lux.

TECUMSEH, Neb. (AP) — An inmate has pleaded not guilty to a charge of murder stemming from a prison uprising in southeast Nebraska.

Court records say 27-year-old Eric Ramos entered several pleas of not guilty during a teleconference Tuesday. He’s charged with first-degree murder, assault, two weapons counts, and tampering with evidence. The records don’t show that a trial date has been set.

Prosecutors say Ramos killed 31-year-old Michael Galindo during the outbreak of violence March 2 at the Tecumseh State Correctional Institution. The bodies of Galindo and 39-year-old Damon Fitzgerald were found after authorities restored order. No one has been charged yet with killing Fitzgerald.

Authorities have said the uprising began because inmates were angry that prison staffers had confiscated 150 pounds (68 kilograms) of homemade alcohol from them.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska Supreme Court justice has resigned after less than two years in his post.

Max Kelch said in a two-sentence letter to Gov. Pete Ricketts that “it is best for my family to submit my resignation.” The resignation becomes effective Feb. 15.

In 2016 Ricketts appointed Kelch to fill the opening created by the retirement of Justice Michael McCormack. Kelch had worked as a county and deputy city attorney, as well as a special prosecutor, before being named district judge for Cass, Otoe and Sarpy counties.

Applications for those seeking the job are due Feb. 16.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A bill that would curtail use of juvenile room confinement raised questions during a Nebraska legislative hearing.

The measure would ban solitary confinement except when necessary to eliminate the immediate risk of harm.

Juliet Summers of Voices for Children in Nebraska testified Wednesday that the psychological effects of solitary confinement are magnified for children, whose brains are still developing.

But several people who work at detention and youth treatment centers testified against the bill.

Ralph Healey from the Kearney Youth Treatment and Rehabilitation Center says he’s concerned about the difficult youth sent to Kearney and the injuries suffered by staff from youth assaults. He says that unless the measure is modified to help protect the staff, it will cause a lot of trouble.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A new attempt to reduce Nebraska property tax bills has opened a familiar divide between farm groups that have grown impatient with lawmakers and business groups that want income tax cuts in the mix.

Sen. Steve Erdman of Bayard presented the bill Thursday to the Legislature’s Revenue Committee, arguing that it would benefit urban and rural taxpayers.

Erdman and farm groups say they’ll try to put the issue on the November general election ballot if lawmakers don’t act this year. Business organizations say they’ll launch a campaign to fight the ballot measure if it gets that far.

The bill would use state money to offset what residents pay in local property taxes. Erdman declined to say how he would pay for the measure, saying lawmakers should make that decision.

HOLDREGE, Neb. (AP) — A Stamford woman has been found guilty of misdemeanor motor vehicle homicide for fatally hitting an 86-year-old pedestrian in Holdrege last summer while reading a test message.

24-year-old Cattarina Stock pleaded no contest Wednesday in Phelps County Court. In exchange for her plea, the charge against her was reduced from a felony to a misdemeanor.

Stock faces up to a year in jail when she’s sentenced March 28.

Authorities say 86-year-old Holdrege resident Aldon Thieszen was crossing a street June 28 when he was hit by Stock’s car. A Nebraska trooper said that Stock failed to keep an eye out for pedestrians and was distracted by one of a series of texts she’d been exchanging.