Press Statement:
May 26, 2021
Statement by Hannah Kubbins, Executive Director of Ohioans to Stop Executions on Today’s Sponsor Testimony on HB 183
Our country is divided on almost every issue as if we are literally split down the middle. However, the death penalty is so broken and flawed that everyone, from all beliefs and backgrounds, can agree that the time has come to end it. Read more.
Radio: Future of the Death Penalty in Ohio (May 19, 2021)
“For the sixth time in a decade, state lawmakers have introduced a bill to end the death penalty in Ohio.
But this time a broad coalition is pushing for abolition. Faith leaders, Democrats, Conservative groups, and Republicans in both chambers of the statehouse as well as former Governor Bob Taft have all voiced support.”
Listen to this episode of All Sides with Ann Fisher.
Black faith leaders, lawmakers, push to end death penalty in Ohio (May 18, 2021)
“A coalition of Black ministers, lawmakers and national activists announced a new effort Tuesday to abolish the death penalty in Ohio, citing growing bipartisan opposition and the country’s recent reckoning over racial injustice.
The death penalty is a modern cousin to lynching, with people of color disproportionately sentenced to death, said members of the Ohio Black Legislative Caucus and the Ohio Council of Churches. They also pointed to the March abolition of the death penalty in Virginia, the first southern state to do so.”
TV: In-Depth: 2 Ohio bills look to end state’s death penalty (May 18, 2021)
“The push to end Ohio’s death penalty is gaining momentum and according to local state lawmakers, is gaining bipartisan support in Columbus.”
Press Release:
May 18, 2021
On May 18 at 10 a.m., a virtual press conference announced broad support for Senate Bill 103 and House Bill 183 from the Ohio Black Legislative Caucus, Black faith leaders, as well as national and statewide activists. Both bills are identical, strongly bi-partisan, and would abolish Ohio’s death penalty. Ohio’s death penalty demonstrates a persistent and horrific trend of valuing white lives over Black lives. A Black defendant is twice as likely to receive a death sentence if the victim is white. Furthermore, people of color comprise the majority of death row while only accounting for 15% of Ohio’s general population. The death penalty propagates racial injustice and can no longer be tolerated in a system that should idealize fairness and racial equity. Read more.
Print: Ohio AG: Clear death penalty roadblocks or get rid of it (April 6, 2021)
“Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost last week used an annual report to draw attention to the fact that 140 people are languishing on death row because Ohio’s death penalty machinery ‘has grown increasingly time consuming, costly and lethargic.'”
Op-Ed: Former governor, attorneys general: Ohio death penalty broken, costly and unjust. It must be repealed. (March 9, 2021)
“Forty years ago, several of us supported the crafting of Ohio’s death penalty law, believing it would be a fair and just system.
Seeing it in operation has convinced us it is not.
We urge the Ohio legislature to repeal what we helped wrought.”
Editorial: End Ohio’s death penalty (March 4, 2021)
“Ohio should follow Virginia’s lead and abolish the death penalty.
If the Old Dominion State, which The Associated Press reported has executed more people in its history than any other state, can do it, then so can Ohio.”
Read this editorial from the Elyria Chronicle-Telegram here.
Radio: There Is Bipartisan Support In Ohio To Abolish The Death Penalty (March 2, 2021)
Listen to this story from 1480 WHBC in Canton featuring HB 183 sponsor Rep. Adam Miller.
Press Release: February 18, 2021
(Columbus, OH) — This morning, Senators Nickie Antonio (D-23) and Stephen Huffman (R-5) announced their intention to introduce a bill that will repeal Ohio’s death penalty.
The Senators were joined by colleagues from both sides of the political aisle, as well as leaders from Ohioans To Stop Executions, a statewide grassroots group representing more than 8,000 Ohioans. OTSE leads a network of state organizations that support repeal of the death penalty in Ohio. Read more.