Family members of murder victims push for the repeal of capital punishment in Ohio (November 16, 2021)
Click here to read the rest of the Gongwer article (available by subscription).
Letter to the Editor: Death penalty not a proven deterrent to crime, let’s do away with it (November 15, 2021)
“Supporters of the death penalty argue it keeps our communities safe, and revenge is justified as a deterrent to crime. This hyperbole and use of extreme case examples is an outdated scare tactic that has no place in Ohio.”
Read the rest of this letter in The Columbus Dispatch by clicking here.
Ending capital punishment in Ohio should be a ‘pro-life’ ideal, evangelical speakers declare (November 12, 2021)
“Evangelicals must put their political and spiritual weight behind abolishing the death penalty because supporting the practice is tantamount to playing God, an evangelical preacher said during an online rally held to end executions in Ohio.”
Read the rest of this article in Baptist News Global by clicking here.
Letter to the Editor: ‘Barbaric’ death penalty needs to be abolished (November 7, 2021)
In his Oct. 31 letter to the editor, Louis Tobin responds to a guest opinion column by Stephanie Ranade Krider in which she spoke out against the death penalty. Krider stressed that all human lives are deserving of dignity, including those on death row.
Tobin, executive director of the Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association, tries to suggest that revenge is a legitimate justification for the death penalty. He proceeds to describe heinous crimes in great detail as an argument in favor of capital punishment.
This kind of emotional appeal has no place in the debate.
Op-Ed: ‘Right to life’ includes murders as much as it does unborn babies (October 25, 2021)
“I believe in the sanctity of life.
That includes the life of a baby in a mother’s womb, the life of someone with terminal illness, and, yes, the life of someone who has committed horrific violence. “
Read the rest of this op-ed in the Columbus Dispatch by clicking here.
Faith Groups Came Together for ‘Death Penalty Abolition Week’ in Ohio (October 18, 2021)
“Ohioans across religious traditions came together as one voice last week to speak out against capital punishment.
Dozens of faith communities participated in vigils, prayer services and virtual conversations during Death Penalty Abolition Week, which came to a close Sunday with a virtual worship service, entitled, ‘Restorative Love, Redemptive Grace.'”
Podcast: Gin & Justice (October 5, 2021)
“This week on Gin & Justice, Justine and Amanda talk with the fabulous Allison Cohen from Ohioans to Stop Executions! Allison has all the facts about why we need to abolish the death penalty. It does not make communities safer, it does not deter crime, it does not make sense financially, it takes decades of legal proceedings and appeals, and lastly but not least – we have had 186 exonerations from death row!”
Faith communities unite during ‘Death Penalty Abolition Week’ (October 4, 2021)
“Faith communities from Ohio have pledged to take action during Death Penalty Abolition Week for Ohio Faith Communities from Oct. 8 through Oct. 17. The week of action was conceptualized by faith leaders within the #NoDeathPenaltyOH campaign, which seeks to abolish the death penalty during the current legislative session.”
Read the rest of this article in the Cleveland Jewish News by clicking here.
Op-Ed: Why Capital Punishment is “Inadmissible” (October 4, 2021)
“A pending bill in the Ohio General Assembly, S.B. 103 (the ‘Bill’), if passed and signed by Governor DeWine, will abolish the death penalty in Ohio. Cincinnati Archbishop Dennis M. Schnurr, on behalf of himself and all the Catholic bishops of Ohio, has submitted written testimony endorsing the Bill and urging its passage. For Catholics, any doubt about the morality of capital punishment has been resolved. As Archbishop Schnurr testified, the death penalty is ‘is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person, and we should work with determination for its abolition worldwide.'”
Read the rest of this op-ed in The Catholic Telegraph by clicking here.
Op-Ed: Why it’s time to declare the death penalty dead (October 3, 2021)
” ‘When you’re talking about death, you can’t afford to make even one mistake.’
Those words came from former Attorney General Jim Petro. In 1981, Petro, former Gov. Bob Taft and former Ohio Supreme Court Justice Paul Pfeiffer crafted our current death penalty system. Yet, today, they support bipartisan bills to repeal the broken system they created.”
Read the rest of the op-ed from OTSE board chair, Marge Koosed, by clicking here.