News
Ohio won’t hold any executions in 2019 as Gov. Mike DeWine issues more reprieves
COLUMBUS, Ohio—Ohio will not hold any executions in 2019, as Gov. Mike DeWine on Wednesday delayed execution dates for death-row inmates James Galen Hanna and Kareem Jackson because of ongoing issues with finding execution drugs. Read more here.
Conservatives in some states push against the death penalty
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Conservatives in states including Wyoming, Utah and Ohio vowed Monday to keep pushing for the repeal of state-level death penalty sentences, even as U.S. officials move toward resuming federal executions. Read more here.
Appeals court says Ohio execution protocol doesn’t cause unconstitutional pain
The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday that just because an inmate feels like he’s being suffocated after a lethal injection, that doesn’t amount to cruel and unusual punishment. “Rather than debating how much pain we are willing to allow people being executed to endure, we should be debating whether the death penalty […]
Column: Death penalty does more harm than good for victim’s son
I lost my father two years ago to a brutal and senseless murder. The man who took his life, Thomas Knuff, was recently sentenced to death. Knuff took my dad from me and robbed the two of us of invaluable time together. It’s impossible to describe the depths of my pain or how to cope […]
Ohio governor delays execution because drug companies won’t supply the state
(CNN)Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine postponed the execution of a death row inmate amid struggles to find a company that will provide the state with drugs for a new lethal injection protocol. Warren Henness was scheduled to be executed on September 12, DeWine’s office said. His new execution date is May 14, giving officials about nine […]
Ohio can’t get drugs for new execution method, DeWine admits
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said Wednesday that state prison officials are finding it impossible to find any company to supply drugs an execution alternative to one that essentially has been declared cruel and unusual. He said he would talk to legislative leaders whether legislation allowing a different execution method should be pursued. Some Ohio death […]
As prosecutors seek death penalty in Parma Heights pen-pal slayings, victim’s son denounces executions
CLEVELAND, Ohio – Jonathan Mann considered himself pro-death penalty until his father was murdered. Until two years ago, the 37-year-old computer programmer rarely thought about capital punishment. Whenever he did, it was always in the abstract, and he was fine with bad guys being executed. Read the full story here.
Ohio House passes bill banning executions of people with ‘serious mental illness’ during crime
COLUMBUS, Ohio –Defendants could escape the death penalty if they suffer from schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder and delusional disorder during the time of the crime, under a bill passed Wednesday in the Ohio House. Representatives passed House Bill 136 76 to 17. Read the full story here.