News
Letter: Ohio must follow other states’ leads and abolish death penalty
The first death row inmate to be statutorily removed from death row due to severe mental illness at the time of his crime was resentenced to life imprisonment without parole last week. This first exemption is a welcome small step in our movement away from the death penalty, but it is time to abandon the […]
Letter to the Editor: Death penalty offers only a false promise of closure and justice
I read Kyle Kirker’s op-ed “Schmidt wrong to put convicts above victims” and as someone who lost a loved one to murder, I can tell you that Mr. Kirker is extremely wrong in his assessment of HB 183 and the abolition of Ohio’s death penalty. I applaud Rep. Jean Schmidt and her efforts to abolish […]
Death penalty ban supporters make pitch to Ohio state senators
TOLEDO, Ohio (WTVG) – Ohio hasn’t carried out an execution since Gov. Mike DeWine took office and there are none on the calendar this year. Still, the death penalty is legal in the state, and a bipartisan group of lawmakers hope there is enough support this year to make Ohio the 24th state to ban […]
Bill to abolish death penalty gets 2nd hearing in Ohio Senate committee
Columbus, Ohio (WSYX) — Members of an Ohio Senate committee will hear from supporters of a new bill to abolish the death penalty. The Senate Judiciary Committee is holding the second hearing for SB 103 Wednesday, which has bipartisan support with seven Democrats and four Republicans among the sponsors and co-sponsors. Read more here.
By ending the death penalty, we can divert resources where they’re really needed
It’s time to end the death penalty in Ohio, and particularly in Cuyahoga County. According to a recent study, Cuyahoga County had the nation’s 133rd highest homicide rate from 1972 to 2019. Yet as noted in the May 5 Plain Dealer, astonishingly, we ranked 12th in the nation in sentencing people to death during that […]
Sample phone scripts
Sample phone scripts for calling Senators on Senate Bill 103 “Hi, my name is ___ and I’m a constituent of Senator ___. I’m calling because I’m opposed to the death penalty and I wanted to express my support for Senate Bill 103. Ohio has sent 11 innocent people to death row. For every five people […]
Some Ohio Conservatives Want To End The Death Penalty; Others Defend It
A bipartisan bill introduced in the Ohio General Assembly is the latest effort to abolish capital punishment in Ohio. The state’s chapter of a national group called Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty has applauded that legislation, which is sponsored by some staunch conservatives in the Ohio House and Senate. Read and listen here.
Former governor, attorneys general: Ohio death penalty broken, costly and unjust. It must be repealed.
Forty years ago, several of us supported the crafting of Ohio’s death penalty law, believing it would be a fair and just system. Seeing it in operation has convinced us it is not. We urge the Ohio legislature to repeal what we helped wrought. Read more here.