OHIO UPDATE: Time to Talk About Ending Ohio’s Death Penalty
Greetings!
It’s been an interesting week here in Ohio. The Associated Press holds a forum with legislative leaders each January at the start of the session, and Ohio’s death penalty figured prominently in the discussion. Here is a pretty good run-down on what was said.
Nutshell: Legislators are talking. You get to weigh in. More on Death Penalty Action’s plans for that, soon. Below is an action to write to Governor DeWine which we are re-sending.
But first, the latest issue of the Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law has death penalty symposium:
A Personal Journey into the Morass of Ohio’s Death Penalty by Lawrence Herman
Abolition of the Ohio Death Penalty? — Not for Lack of Trying by Margery Malkin Koosed
From Proponent to Opponent: My Lifelong Struggle with the Death Penalty by Jim Petro
Ohio’s Modern Death Penalty — From Architect to Opponent by Justice Paul Pfeifer
Why Europe Abolished Capital Punishment by John Quigley and S. Adele Shank
Tinkering with the Machinery of Death: Lessons from a Failure of Judicial Activism by Kent Scheidegger
And here again, is the action sent last week to encourage you to write to Governor DeWine. Please reply to this message to let us know if you take this action, and also if or when you receive a reply. Have an excellent weekend!
— Abe & Scott
More great news in Ohio!
Once again, Governor Mike DeWine has pushed back execution dates, blaming pharmaceutical companies for the lack of drugs necessary to use Ohio’s execution protocol. We must applaud, but there’s a next step, and it’s time for Governor DeWine to be unambiguous about where he really stands on capital punishment..
Frankly, the issue is not how we kill our prisoners, but that we do so at all when the system is as broken as it is.
THIS should be Governor DeWine’s message to the legislature: Enact every one of the 56 recommendations of the Supreme Court Joint Task Force on the Administration of Ohio’s Death Penalty, or abolish the death penalty.
How can you help?
This weekend, go out and get a special thank you card, or pull one from that stash you have been saving for special occasions. Using the regular postal mail, send Governor DeWine a heartfelt, genuine hand written note of thanks for his leadership in continuing to push off executions. Then make a postscript (PS) note asking him to just go ahead and declare that it’s time to repeal Ohio’s death penalty, and to work to that end. Here’s the address:
Governor Mike DeWine
Riffe Center, 30th Floor
77 S. High St.
Columbus, OH 43215
If you wish, print off and include one (just one!) of these op-eds or news items that have been published by Ohioans with Voices of Experience on the issue. (If you want to send the others, send them one at a time.)
- Murder Victim Family Member Melinda Elkins Dawson
- Murder Victim Family Member LaShawn Ajamu
- Murder Victim Family Member Rev. Dr. Jack Sullivan Jr.
- Murder Victim Family Member Jonathan Mann
- Former Director of the Ohio Department of Corrections Terry Collins
- (Watch Terry’s video, here.)
- Former Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro
- Former Ohio Governor Bob Taft
- Former Ohio Supreme Court Justice Paul Pfeiffer (Author of Ohio’s death penalty law)
- Ohio Death Row Survivor Joe D’Ambrosio
- Death Penalty Task Force Member Prof. Phyllis Crocker
What else can we do?
- Kick in some funds to Death Penalty Action, here.
- Reply to this message to schedule a speaker for your school or community.
- Write a letter to the editor of your local news outlet.
Let us know how we can support your efforts where you live by replying to this message.
Together we are making the difference.
Thank you.
Scott & Abe, Co-Directors, Death Penalty Action
PS: Like what we do? Help make it happen with your donation today, here!
