Letter to the Editor:Response to “A Prosecutor’s Perspective on the Death Penalty,”
“In his “Ohio Lawyer” column “A Prosecutor’s Perspective on the Death Penalty,” Cuyahoga County assistant prosecutor Saleh Awadallah makes several misleading statements. He begins with the unsupported claim that serial killers, mass murderers, and child killers “are why capital punishment exists in Ohio as a sentencing option” – yet more than half of those on Ohio’s death row do not fit any of those descriptions.”
Op-Ed: Why we should repeal the death penalty in Ohio (December 6, 2021)
“Why would you, the average citizen who doesn’t know anyone on death row, care about repealing the death penalty? Honestly, it’s not an issue I have thought a great deal about until recently, despite the murder of my nephew many years ago. For my brother, the anguish and anger connected to that tragedy has never left him, yet he is firm in his belief that the death penalty makes no sense.”
Read the rest of this op-ed in the Athens Messenger by clicking here.
Letter to the Editor: Conservatives seek end of death penalty (December 5, 2021)
“We write in support of House Bill 183 and Senate Bill 103 in the Ohio General Assembly that would abolish the death penalty in Ohio.
What is remarkable is there is a growing concern among Republicans about the cost and ineffectiveness of the death penalty.”
Read the rest of this letter in the Youngstown Vindicator here.
TV: Two bills Ohio Legislature could end death penalty in state (December 3, 2021)
“Ohio is getting as close as it’s come in years to abolishing the death penalty. Two bills making their way through the legislature represent a new lease on life for some and endless pain to others.”
Podcast: Discussions with DPIC (December 2, 2021)
“In the December 2021 episode of Discussions with DPIC, Death Penalty Information Center Deputy Director Ngozi Ndulue interviews State Representative Jean Schmidt about her work as the primary sponsor of a bill in the Ohio House of Representatives that would abolish capital punishment in the state. A long-time Republican elected official, Rep. Schmidt also served in the U.S. House of Representatives for ten years. She avidly supported the death penalty early in her career but now is an advocate of criminal justice reform. Ndulue and Schmidt discuss the Republican party’s and Schmidt’s own evolving views on capital punishment, its myriad economic and emotional costs, mistakes in the criminal legal system, and public safety. According to Schmidt, ‘the death penalty is creating more victims than the crime itself.'”
Ohio lawmakers to again consider repealing the death penalty (November 21, 2021)
“The death penalty might be on life support in Ohio.
Lawmakers continue to consider two separate bipartisan measures that would make life in prison without the possibility of parole the harshest sentence available under state law.
Family members of murder victims pushed for the repeal of capital punishment in Ohio at a hearing for House Bill 183 last Monday.”
Read the rest of this article on The Ohio Press Network by clicking here.
Letter to the Editor: Consider facts when deciding death penalty (November 21, 2021)
“I read the Tribune Chronicle article titled “Death penalty debated.” Although Trumbull County Assistant Prosecutor Christopher Becker testified in opposition the legislation to repeal capital punishment, it seemed he wanted to re-litigate the common sense criminal justice reforms from the past few decades.”
Read the rest of this article in the Warren Tribune-Chronicle by clicking here.
Op-Ed: Republicans Across the Country Are Joining the Fight to End the Death Penalty (November 19, 2021)
“In Ohio, a political bell-weather state that has become very red in recent election cycles, former Congresswoman and now State Representative Jean Schmidt and Sen. Stephen Huffman are Republican prime sponsors of bills to end the death penalty. They are clear that the death penalty is a contradiction to their conservative beliefs.”
Discussion continues on bill that would eliminate death penalty in Ohio (November 18, 2021)
“A fourth hearing was held Thursday on legislation that could abolish the death penalty in Ohio.
House Bill 183 was introduced by Reps. Jean Schmidt, R-Loveland, and Adam Miller, D-Columbus, in March.”
Read the rest of this article from ABC 6 in Columbus by clicking here.
Legislation to Abolish Death Penalty in Ohio Has Fourth Hearing This Week (November 18, 2021)
“Legislation to abolish the death penalty in Ohio is set to have a fourth hearing today.
The House Criminal Justice Committee will hear from interested parties on House Bill 183, which has a companion bill in the Senate.
Rev. Dr. Crystal Walker, executive director of the group Greater Dayton Christian Connections, whose son was murdered in 2013, said the death penalty cannot bring him back, and she would not want his killer’s family to feel the loss she feels.”
Read the rest of this article from Cleveland Scene by clicking here.