‘Dead Man Walking’ author issues a call to action to Ohio’s faith leaders to end the death penalty
“Sister Helen Prejean, author of the 1993 book ‘Dead Man Walking’ and internationally known advocate for the abolishment of the death penalty issued a ‘call to action’ to Ohio’s faith leaders to work to end capital punishment in the state…
“Prejean said the death penalty is ‘riddled with race’ and a ‘continuation of the legacy of slavery in this country.'”
Read more about Sister Helen Prejean’s Ohio event on cleveland.com
Making Room for Opposing the Death Penalty on the Evangelical Agenda
EJUSA Evangelical Network’s Sam Heath talks to Columbus Vineyard’s Pastor Rich Nathan. “Nathan has brought the light of the gospel to this city as a pastor for 34 years, until stepping into a pastoral training role in 2021. His journey to a large and thriving 8,000-member congregation spans four decades, and part of that story culminates with a staunch advocacy to repeal the death penalty.”
Ohio’s death penalty disproportionately affects Black men
“Over a hundred years ago, at a site a little under 50 miles from where I live, an angry mob of white people showed up, guns in hand, to the jail cell of Henry Corbin. Corbin had been accused of killing a white woman– an accusation he and his family flatly denied. Without any due process, this mob took it upon themselves to enact so-called justice, hanging Corbin from a tree and filling his body with over 400 bullets…”
Read the rest of the op-ed by NAACP-Ohio’s Tom Roberts in the Dayton Daily News here
The death penalty does nothing to keep us safe. Let’s end it now.
“I was a 35-year-old military veteran working for the U.S. Postal Service in Phoenix when my life was turned upside down. I was arrested and charged for a crime I knew nothing about. My trial only lasted four days and the jury convicted me after deliberating for only four hours. A Maricopa County, Arizona judge sentenced me to death…”
Read the rest of death row exoneree Ray Krone’s op-ed in the Athens Messenger here.
Activist group is optimistic about ending death penalty in Ohio
“We had a lot of progress last year,” said Cohen. “We had the most bipartisan support that we’ve ever received for death penalty repeal. And the bills went the farthest in the process that they’ve ever gone.”
Read more of WOSU 89.7 NPR’s interview with OTSE’s Allison Cohen here
From education to marijuana: What Ohio lawmakers want to accomplish in 2023
Ending the death penalty included in some of lawmakers’ highest priorities for this General Assembly
Reflections: The Death Penalty is not justice.
Although HB 183 and SB 103, identical companion bills that would repeal Ohio’s death penalty did not pass during this most recent Ohio General Assembly, the bills made more progress than ever before. There is bipartisan support in the Statehouse, and public opinion is on our side.
Read ACLU’s reflection of efforts to repeal the death penalty in 2021 and 2022