‘Ironclad conservative,’ other Republican may be why barbaric relic ends in Ohio
The planets may be aligning to end the death penalty in Ohio.
Bipartisan abolition bills, including one co-sponsored by an ironclad conservative, suburban Cincinnati Republican Jean Schmidt, are pending in the state Senate and the Ohio House of Representatives.
Unmasking justice: why Ohio’s bipartisan effort to end capital punishment matters
In a society built upon the principles of justice and equality, we find ourselves at a crossroads in the face of an inhumane practice: the death penalty. We pool our values as a society to protect families, yet the death penalty stands as a contradiction to these ideals. Notably, Ohio has taken a significant step forward toward this goal with a bipartisan bill aimed at ending capital punishment.
Ohio Takes Major Step Toward Abolishing Death Penalty With New Legislation
After years of debate about the matter, both chambers of the state legislature now have bills that, if passed, would put an end to capital punishment.
Legislative proposals to end the death penalty have been introduced every session for over ten years. But now, it appears the effort is gaining some traction.
A new ban on the death penalty in Ohio brings in a longtime conservative lawmaker as a sponsor
Democratic lawmakers have introduced a ban on the death penalty in Ohio a dozen times over the past dozen years — but a new effort has brought in one of the most conservative Republicans.
Among the Republicans backing the House bill to replace the death penalty with life without parole is state Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-Loveland), a longtime state lawmaker and a fervent opponent of abortion rights who has suggested birth control could be banned.
Renewed effort at Ohio Statehouse to end the death penalty
The effort to abolish the death penalty has been ongoing for more than a decade in Ohio, but now there is a renewed bipartisan push to get it done.
The push began in the Ohio Senate this spring with Senate Bill 101, sponsored by Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio (D-Lakewood) and Sen. Steve Huffman (R-Tipp City).
‘NO to the Gas Chamber!’
“It is inconceivable that in 2023 the world still needs to hear the message that any government’s use of a gas chamber of any kind is inadmissible in the wake of the events of the twentieth century. And yet, in the past week alone, two American states once again have raised the scepter of the use of gas to put human beings to death.”
Read more from L’chaim! Jews Against the Death Penalty in the Times of Israel
Ohio death row inmates spend 21 years waiting for execution date
Ohio’s next execution of a death row inmate was originally on the calendar for exactly three months from now on November 16.
But that date, like so many others, was recently pushed back.
It’s been five years since the state’s last execution.
We found state officials are calling the system “broken” as Ohio’s unofficial death penalty moratorium continues.
The governor keeps pushing back execution dates for death row inmates as the struggle to find the drugs needed for lethal injection stretches on.
There’s no healing with more killing in name of justice
In response to the death sentence in the Pittsburgh synogogue case of Robert Bowers, Rabbi Miriam Terlinchamp from Blue Ash writes:
“I want justice. I want consequences. I even want punishment, and to declare that we will not tolerate hate. However, the death penalty does not accomplish those things. The death penalty severs our relationship to the crime, excising it from the world. Some might think this is a good thing. I see it another way, that the death penalty deprives us of our opportunity to try to repair our world.”
We must move away from policies that embrace violence and death as an ultimate solution
In 2013, my son Edward was shot and killed in Dayton, Ohio. A mother should never lose her baby, especially in such a violent and horrific way. Like all journeys with grief, my path was unique. I remember so vividly my anger at God – the same God who I had pledged my life in service to as an ordained reverend of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).
Yet, as great as my pain was and is, I came through the fog of my anger to realize that wishing death upon the young man who took my son’s life was not a solution. I believe in my heart that more violence, more pain and more death is not the path forward for justice. That is why my heart is filled with hope that we will end the death penalty in Ohio
Read more from Rev. Dr. Crystal Walker in the Dayton Daily News
Ohio’s death penalty: Today marks five years since last inmate executed
“Ohio was once a pretty prolific executioner, so this is a real change,” she said. “We’re seeing indications in many states that lawmakers and the public are becoming increasingly disenchanted with a punishment that is rarely used, often unfair and inaccurate. They’ve turned to other answers in response to violent crime. And it looks like the same trend is happening in Ohio.”
To mark five years since the last execution, the No Death Penalty Ohio Coalition is hosting a “Day of Hope” in which the nonprofit is inviting people to share their reasons to be hopeful for the death penalty’s abolition on social media using #DayofHope2023.