COLUMBUS — State lawmakers here in Ohio are reacting after Gov. Mike DeWine said today he wants them to get rid of the death penalty.
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For years, the governor has delayed groups of executions in Ohio every few months, citing the difficulty the state is having getting drugs to use for lethal injections.
>> Reactions pour in as DeWine calls for abolition of death penalty
The governor wants to take what is currently an effective death penalty ban in Ohio and make it law, but from what leadership in the legislature has been saying, that will be an uphill policy battle.
“I mean your heart has to go out to the victims and to their families. Separate issue how we as a society decide to deal with it,” DeWine said.
On Tuesday, DeWine announced a decision that he’s publicly said he’s been thinking about for months.
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“I believe Ohio should abolish the death penalty,” DeWine said.
During his time as a policymaker in Columbus and in Congress dating back to the 1908s, DeWine has supported the death penalty.
But Tuesday, he changed his tune.
“I no longer believe the Death penalty is a deterrent to murder. The moral justification I had for voting for the death penalty. Simply no longer exists,” DeWine said.
In an hour-long news conference, DeWine cited data showing a decrease in executions carried out over the last four decades and an increase in the time inmates spend on death row between sentencing and execution.
“You can talk about the death penalty. And you can argue it one way or the other. But the most effective thing to deal with violent crime is to go after the repeat violent offenders and lock them the hell up. That’s what’s effective,” DeWine said.
The governor called on state lawmakers to ban the death penalty or for those legislators to put it on the ballot for voters to decide.
In a statement, Ohio House Speaker Matt Huffman, whose district includes parts of Auglaize County:
“For many years, including as recently as February, I have been clear in my support for maintaining the death penalty in Ohio for the most heinous crimes. While I respect Governor DeWine’s perspective, I disagree with his conclusion that the General Assembly should eliminate capital punishment altogether.”
State lawmakers from both parties currently have bills in both chambers that would end the death penalty in our state.
Two in the Ohio Senate, one in the Ohio House.
All three are in committee; they are a long way from getting to the governor’s desk.
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