News
Op-Ed by Sister Helen Prejean in The Blade
Sister Helen Prejean, author of Dead Man Walking and noteworthy death penalty abolitionist has penned an op-ed featured in The Blade (Toledo) on April 29, 2025. Right: OTSE Executive Director Kevin Werner and Sister Helen Prejean pose for a photo together in Cincinnati, OH in April 2025. Read the full article here.
OTSE seeks two new organizers
Ohioans to Stop Executions (OTSE), a state-wide non-profit organization working to end the death penalty in Ohio, seeks to hire two new campaign organizers in the coming weeks. One organizer will support the new co-victim group announced at the press conference and the second organizer will work with each of OTSE’s key constituencies. Both new […]
OTSE releases new report
Ohioans to Stop Executions releases “The Human Cost of the Death Penalty.” The new report highlights the historic low capital indictments and use of the death penalty in Ohio. The report also explores recent trends and what actually happens to death-sentenced individuals. The report concludes “After four decades of trying to make the death penalty […]
OTSE seeks Campaign Director
Ohioans to Stop Executions (OTSE), a state-wide non-profit organization working to end the death penalty in Ohio, seeks to hire a Campaign Director to lead our organization at a time of tremendous momentum and opportunity. We are currently focused on passing bipartisan repeal legislation in the Ohio State Legislature through the multifaceted, strategic No Death […]
The racist roots of Ohio’s death penalty
The Death Penalty Information Center released a new report about Ohio’s death penalty. The report – Broken Promises: How a History of Racial Violence and Bias Shaped Ohio’s Death Penalty – traces the racist roots of our state’s capital punishment system.
OTSE seeks a new Deputy Director
Using a coordinated, strategic, and empowerment-oriented approach, OTSE works to build and mobilize public and political support for abolition of capital punishment. Our core objectives include abolishing the death penalty through legislative action and changing the statewide conversation about the death penalty. We work towards repeal by highlighting the tremendous bipartisan support for abolition, informing […]
Ohio House and Senate both consider bills to end the death penalty
This fall, both chambers of the Ohio General Assembly held hearings on bills that would repeal the state’s death penalty law. In the House, members of the Finance Committee heard from OTSE’s Executive Director Allison Cohen, along with families of homicide victims, pro-life activists, the state public defender, and more. Watch the full hearing here: […]
The death penalty costs Ohio hundreds of millions of dollars. It hasn’t been used in years
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio’s death penalty program costs the state hundreds of millions, but it hasn’t been used since 2018. A bipartisan group of lawmakers is ready to pull the plug. It’s failed for 12 years, but advocates have renewed hope that capital punishment will end in Ohio with a new bill at the Statehouse. […]