News
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 It must be repealed.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.
Opinion: Severely mentally ill will not be executed in Ohio, but work remains
Ohio has taken a major step toward recognizing the role of serious mental health impairments in our criminal justice system. People with severe mental illness will no longer be executed by the state, thanks to a bill approved by the legislature and signed by Gov. Mike DeWine. I am grateful to those legislators who championed […]
Chances for Ohio death penalty repeal appear to be growing
The biggest-ever bipartisan coalition on Thursday announced a renewed effort to repeal the death penalty in Ohio. State Sen. Nickie Antonio, D-Lakewood, and Sen. Steve Huffman, R-Tipp City, hosted a virtual press conference to announce that they and three other Republican and four Democratic senators so far have said they will co-sponsor the repeal legislation. […]
Lawmakers announce GOP-supported effort to end death penalty
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Capital punishment would be banned in Ohio under upcoming legislation announced Thursday with both Democratic and Republican support, the latest bipartisan effort to end executions in the state. The backing of some GOP lawmakers to do away with executions in Ohio isn’t new, with numerous abolition bills over the years garnering […]
Growing number of Republican lawmakers support ending the death penalty in Ohio
A growing number of Republican Ohio lawmakers are voicing their support for abolishing the death penalty in the state, giving longtime supporters hope changes first proposed a decade ago could finally become law. Read more here.