News
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.
Beacon Journal/Ohio.com editorial board: Don’t execute those with serious mental illness
One abiding principle of the justice system goes: The punishment should fit the crime and the defendant. That helps explain the thinking behind reserving the death penalty for the worst of the worst. It also puts in context legislation at the Statehouse that would prohibit the execution of those who are convicted of murder and […]
Editorial: Ohio should do the right thing, not execute those with mental illness
As Ohio takes a break from executions while questions surrounding the lethal drugs used in the process are hashed out, it’s a good time to consider ending execution of people who have serious mental illness. Separate bills to enact such a ban are sitting in committees in the Ohio Senate and House of Representatives. They deserve consideration, and we […]
Beacon Journal/Ohio.com editorial board: Spare those with severe mental illness from execution
Five years have passed since a statewide task force recommended improvements in how Ohio conducts the death penalty. Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor initiated the effort, and the members performed the job well, generating 56 proposals for the courts and legislature. Unfortunately, a small fraction has been implemented, with state lawmakers proving especially lax in taking […]
‘Ineffective, irreversible and immoral:’ Gavin Newsom halts death penalty for 737 inmates
Gov. Gavin Newsom put a moratorium on the death penalty in California on Wednesday, sparing the lives of more than 700 death-row inmates. Saying the death penalty is “ineffective, irreversible and immoral,” he signed an executive order granting reprieves to all 737 Californians awaiting executions – a quarter of the country’s death row inmates. Read […]
Column: Pause Ohio’s death penalty to make it more humane, fair
Gov. Mike DeWine made the right decision in halting executions in Ohio until there is in place a lethal-injection protocol that courts find in compliance with constitutional standards. Given U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael Merz’s opinion that drugs currently used in executions could cause “senseless pain and needless suffering,” the governor’s action is both human and […]