The death penalty could be abolished in Ohio under upcoming bipartisan legislation announced Tuesday — the latest in what has been years of efforts to end capital punishment in the state.
State senators on both sides of the aisle called for an end to the practice, citing the financial blow to the taxpayer of keeping an inmate on death row, the lack of lethal injection drugs that has led to an unofficial moratorium on executions in the state, the danger of executing an innocent person, and questions about a state’s right to end a life.
“This is not a Republican or Democratic issue,” said Sen. Nickie Antonio, a Lakewood Democrat. “No matter what anyone’s reason is for supporting this legislation, it is critical to our own collective humanity.”
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The proposal is far from new. Antonio and GOP Sen. Tipp City’s Steve Huffman introduced the measure during the last session. It failed to gain any traction, as it has through several legislative sessions, despite backing some of the majority Republicans.
But growing public opposition to the death penalty gives Antonio hope this time, she said at Tuesday’s press conference, as does a new General Assembly that includes a dozen senators who support the abolition of the death penalty.
A bipartisan group of Ohio lawmakers has introduced a bill to abolish the death penalty in the state. (AP Photo/Samantha Hendrickson)
First-term Republican Senator Michelle Reynolds said she supports the measure because she is “pro-life” and believes human life should not be used as a bargaining chip.
“Life is our most precious gift, and our statutes should support and elevate it,” Reynolds said.
It’s not clear where legislative leadership might take the bill. GOP Senate President Matt Huffman – Steve Huffman’s cousin – supports the death penalty, though he previously said he is open to debate and discussion on the subject. Republican House Speaker Jason Stephens also said he was open to further debate in the legislature.
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Currently, Ohio has an unofficial moratorium on the death penalty after GOP Governor Mike DeWine directed lawmakers to find an alternative method to lethal injection, citing the state’s inability to obtain needed drugs. He has since postponed several executions.
The state’s last execution was on July 18, 2018, when Ohio put Robert Van Hook to death for the 1985 murder of David Self in Cincinnati. Ohio currently has 134 people on death row, according to the nonprofit Death Penalty Information Center.
The Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association opposes the legislation, calling it “dangerous” and saying it would spare Ohio’s “worst criminals” a break.
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Republican Attorney General Dave Yost, a proponent of the death penalty, said in a statement that the bill provides a platform to discuss a necessary overhaul of Ohio’s death penalty system, calling it “a farce and a fractured promise of justice”.