Ohio has not carried out an execution in over two years. Throughout this extended and unofficial moratorium, we have found unprecedented bipartisan support in Ohio’s legislature – and among Ohio voters – to repeal Ohio’s death penalty.
House Bill 136, a bill that exempts individuals with serious mental illness from receiving a death sentence, was signed into law by Governor DeWine in January 2021. During the several years it took to get this important piece of legislation passed and signed, conversations were sparked about the many irreparable problems with the death penalty including:
- Arbitrary application based on geography and race.
- Massive costs to taxpayers.
- Lack of deterrence to violent crime.
- Wrongful convictions happen all the time – in Ohio there are nine death row exonerees who spent a combined 190 years on death row for crimes they did not commit.
- A growing number of murder victim family members do not believe the death penalty helps them heal.
Not only has there been a legislative change of attitude, but public opinion has also shifted significantly. A poll conducted by the Terrance Group in the fall of 2020 found that 59% of Ohioans support replacing the death penalty with a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The momentum to repeal the death penalty in Ohio is at an all-time high. Join us as we push for Ohio to become the 23rd state to put an end to capital punishment.
Ohioans to stop executions: partners in the fight
To have your organization listed here, email our Director of Outreach and Community Organizing, Jennifer@otse.org.
State and National Orgs Who Support a Death Penalty Repeal Effort in Ohio
- ACLU of Ohio
- ACLU National
- The 8th Amendment Project
- Catholic Conference of Ohio
- Catholic Mobilizing Network
- Conservatives Concerned about the Death Penalty
- Death Penalty Action
- Equal Justice USA
- Intercommunity Justice and Peace Center
- The Ohio Council of Churches
- The Ohio Transformation Fund
- The Ohio Justice and Policy Center
- Reprieve
- Responsible Business Initiative
- Witness to Innocence
- Catholics Against Capital Punishment
- The Musketeer Association
- National Congress on Faith & Social Justice
- Dominican Sisters of Peace
- Amnesty International
- National Hispanic Leadership Agenda
- National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
- NADP
- People of Faith Against the Death Penalty
- The World Coalition Against the Death Penalty
- Death Penalty Focus
- Catholic Mobilizing Network
- The International Federation of ACATs
- Soto Zen Buddhist Association
- Black Lives Matter
- International Commission against Execution
- NAACP
- Journey of Hope
- Campaign to End the Death Penalty
- Penal Reform International
- Student Abolition
- American Solidarity Party
Check out the results of OTSE and the ACLU of Ohio’s statewide public opinion poll of voters’ views on capital punishment.