Ohio Attorney General’s Push to Revive the Death Penalty is Untimely, Unseemly, and Unnecessary
Allen Johnson, who witnessed more than 20 executions as a journalist, says that “Yost is woefully misguided in pushing Ohio to follow suit with Alabama by adopting nitrogen hypoxia for capital punishment.”
Overseeing death of 15 Ohio men had deep impact on me. Plan to suffocate with gas horrific.
Gary Mohr worked in the corrections field 49 years, lastly as director of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections from 2011 to 2018. Now he’s calling for an end to the death penalty.
Ohio shouldn’t pursue new execution method
The Chronicle Telegram editorial board rejects lawmakers’ proposal to introduce a new method of execution. “Ohio would be better served to abolish the death penalty rather than to seek a new way to carry out executions.”
Sanctity of Human Life: To defend human dignity, Catholics must remember who they are
Will Kuehnle writes about the importance of working to repeal Ohio’s death penalty, particularly as Catholic’s participate in and celebrate January’s pro-life activities.
The Road Not Taken: In 2023 Two Death Penalty States Offer Americans a Clear Choice
Columnist Austin Sarat looks at the current state of the death penalty in the United States, looking at the differences between how Florida and Ohio handled the practice in 2024. Sarat highlights the country’s move away from the death penalty and how Ohio is approaching abolition.
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After Five-Year Execution Pause, Ohio Leaders Question Value of Death Penalty
A proposed death penalty repeal bill in the Ohio legislature is drawing attention to the state’s five-year pause on executions, and leading state officials from both parties to question whether the death penalty system is working. Ohio Attorney General David Yost (pictured) summed up the situation by saying, “This system satisfies nobody. Those who oppose the death penalty want it abolished altogether, not ticking away like a time bomb that might or might not explode. Those who support the death penalty want it to be fair, timely and effective. Neither side is getting what it wants while the state goes on pointlessly burning through enormous taxpayer resources.”
Is the death penalty dying? Sentences, executions remain low
The number of states imposing or performing executions in 2023 was at a 20-year low, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, a group that complies such statistics.
Polling indicates that public skepticism of the fairness and propriety of the death penalty continues to increase. And increasingly, bipartisan coalitions in legislatures are pushing to abolish it in states that haven’t already, the year-end report said.
The U.S. Supreme Court is one institution, however, that seems to be out of step with the growing march against state-sponsored killing.
Ohio continued to delay executions this year — as Gov. Mike DeWine has since taking office in early 2019.
Justice For None: What the Future Holds for Ohio’s Death Penalty
Longtime Ohio journalist Andrew Welsh-Huggins looks at the current state of Ohio’s death penalty, including efforts to end it in the current General Assembly session.
I’ve judged, prosecuted death penalty cases. Only way to restore fairness is to repeal it
My involvement with the death penalty runs deep.
I dealt with capital punishment cases as a prosecutor and judge in Montgomery County.
In 2011, I was appointed by the then-chief justice of the Ohio Supreme Court to serve as chairman of the Joint Task Force on the Administration of Ohio’s Death Penalty.
I do not oppose the death penalty in concept, but because it fails as an effective public policy, I support current legislation to repeal Ohio’s capital punishment statute.
Official who oversaw Ohio executions now opposes them
A former director of Ohio’s prison system who personally oversaw 15 executions told state senators on Wednesday that he now opposes the death penalty.
“I do not believe that we are executing the worst of the worst…,” said Gary Mohr, who directed the state Department of Rehabilitation and Correction from 2011 to 2018 under then-Gov. John Kasich.
“I do not believe the death penalty is a deterrent,” Mr. Mohr said. “Quite frankly, if I believed the death penalty was a deterrent and would keep our staff safe, I would not be testifying today.”
Murder victims’ families call to end death penalty in Ohio
The families of murder victims are pushing Ohio lawmakers to end the death penalty.
They continue to fight executions in Ohio, saying the appeals process makes the cases agonizingly difficult. For the Rev. Crystal Walker, the death penalty is not a solution to the grief and anger she feels since her son’s death.
Her son, Edward Michael Powers, was shot and killed in Dayton in 2013. The shooting is still under investigation.
“The death penalty is an empty promise of justice,” she said Monday at a press conference in Columbus. “There are families who have been promised that the person who killed their loved ones will be executed, yet they wait for decades of court appearances and media exposure and uncertainty. Only to learn that the person being sentenced was commuted or died of natural causes.”