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Home > Blogs > Ohio politics > Archives > 2011 > March > 14 > Entry
Bill calls for elimination of death penalty
Two Democrats in the Ohio House are pushing a new bill that would repeal the state’s death penalty statute that has been on the books since 1981.
Anti-death penalty advocates said 60 percent of Ohio counties do not have any inmates on the state’s death row and five counties account for half of the prisoners sentenced to death.
“Life is precious, regardless of your circumstances,” said Melinda Elkins Dawson, whose mother was raped and murdered and her niece raped and beaten by Earl Mann. Dawson’s now ex-husband, Clarence Elkins, spent eight years behind bars for the crimes before DNA evidence proved Mann was the true rapist and killer.
Dawson, who now lives in Preble County, said she has never believed in the death penalty, in part because it drags out appeals and delays closure for the victim’s family. She added that some members of her family disagree with her and wanted Mann to face the death penalty.
Dawson as well as the Ohio Catholic Conference came out in support of the bill, which is supported by state Reps. Ted Celeste, D-Columbus and Nickie Antonio, D-Lakewood.
Illinois just abolished its death penalty law and a handful of high profile Ohio officials have recently called on the Buckeye State to do the same, Celeste noted.
Gov. John Kasich, who just began a four-year term, has said that he supports the death penalty for the worst of the worst. As a state lawmaker, he voted in favor of the statute in 1981.
The Innocence Project, a legal clinic that helps inmates prove their innocence through DNA evidence, has helped exonerate 267 prisoners across the nation, including 17 who had been sentenced to death.
Dale Johnston, formerly of Xenia, urged Ohio officials to follow Illinois’ lead and recognize that there is no way to design a perfect death penalty system.
Johnston spent five years on Ohio’s death row for the 1982 murders of his teen stepdaughter and her fiance. The Ohio Supreme Court overturned his conviction in 1988 because prosecutors withheld exculpatory evidence from Johnston’s defense team.
Twenty-six years after the crimes, Chester McKnight pleaded guilty to the murders while a second man, Kenneth Linscott, pleaded guilty to abuse of a corpse.
Ohio executed two men this year and has seven more scheduled between now and October. There are 157 inmates on Ohio’s death row.
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By Vote Out All Liberals!
March 17, 2011 6:42 PM | Link to this
Isn’t it amazing how all of these tax and spend libs become fiscal conservatives when it comes to justice? They’re the ones that make it expensive to begin with!
By RAMSEY CLARK
March 16, 2011 1:17 AM | Link to this
DEATH PENALTY IN OHIO IS A JOKE. IT TAKES 20YRS OF APPEALS TO PUT SOMEONE TO DEATH. SO IF YOU ARE WORKING AT A 7/11 AND SOMEONE COMES IN AND KILLS YOU FOR NO REASON, AND STEALS THE MONEY THEY GET LIFE.
By Great in Dayton
March 15, 2011 10:43 PM | Link to this
I don’t want the death penalty as a deterant. I think it should be used to save money on prisons. Put them to death with one appeal and put them to death in one year or less. Give the death penalty for lesser crimes as well. We need to weed the bad people out and besides there are too many people.
By Ragweed
March 15, 2011 7:15 AM | Link to this
Revamping the appeals process is the way to reduce the cost of the death penalty. Keep the death penalty, redo the appeals.
By Kevin S.
March 15, 2011 7:03 AM | Link to this
Now that we know how often innocent people are rushed to Death Row, there’s no reason for any state to keep the death penalty. Abolishing it is a no-brainer.
By tired of it.
March 14, 2011 6:59 PM | Link to this
i favor the death penalty because it is a deterent. i know it is because it deterrs me.
By KW
March 14, 2011 3:24 PM | Link to this
Getting rid of Ohio’s death penalty would save how many millions? This seems to be a practical approach to saving on costs. Life without parole will keep dangerous people from harming others.
By George Bush
March 14, 2011 2:40 PM | Link to this
The Saudis have this one right. Off with their heads on friday afternoon in the town square.
By Vigilante
March 14, 2011 1:55 PM | Link to this
Just turn them all over to me. My method is humane, quick and low cost.
By JR
March 14, 2011 1:41 PM | Link to this
Like it or not. The death penalty is the only true way to make sure a certain bad element of society never kills or rapes again.
By raiel
March 14, 2011 1:38 PM | Link to this
I would be for the Death Penalty if I actually trusted our system to dispense it correctly. I don’t so I’m against it. Even when they’re guilty, they can stay on death row for 20 years while costly legal appeals go on.