With less than a week to go until Ohio’s first execution in over three years, a diverse coalition of thousands are making their voices heard, including several high profile concerned citizens of Ohio. Former Attorneys General of Ohio Jim Petro and Lee Fisher, and Pastor Carl Ruby of Central Christian Church are the latest to come out against the executions, with new opinion pieces published today. They join former corrections officials, exonerated death row survivors, murder victims’ families, and over 25,000 citizens who have called on Governor Kasich to halt the state’s 27 planned executions and prevent Ohio from becoming the death penalty capital of the Midwest.
Former Ohio Attorney General Lee Fisher is a Democrat who believes the death penalty should be used in some cases; Jim Petro served as a Republican Attorney General and is opposed to the death penalty. Their jointly-authored piece, published in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, shows they agree that Ohio is not ready to return to executions:
The most significant issue is the state's own failure to act on needed changes to the death penalty system. In 2014, the Ohio Supreme Court Joint Task Force on the Administration of Ohio's Death Penalty released a report outlining numerous, systemic problems with the state's capital punishment system, and detailed recommendations to make the system fairer, more reliable, and more just.
The report suggested measures to reduce racial disparity, increase accuracy in sentencing, ensure better lawyers for indigent defendants, and more.
This was a wide-ranging and detailed report, the product of years of study and discussion, issued by a task force empaneled by the Ohio Supreme Court with bipartisan members, including law enforcement officials, judges, prosecutors, public defenders, policy analysts, and state legislators.
Yet none of the most consequential recommendations have so far been adopted, allowing the serious, systemic problems inherent in Ohio's capital punishment laws and practices to continue.
In a powerful op-ed for the Akron Beacon Journal, Pastor Carl Ruby of Central Christian Church expresses why many conservatives of faith are deeply concerned about Ohio’s plan to restart executions later this month:
We question the fairness, accuracy, and cost of our state’s death penalty – a problematic government policy that metes out life and death. How can we trust our government to get it right every single time when the facts show otherwise?
Pastor Ruby makes a good point: Nine people have been exonerated from Ohio's death row in recent decades; three have been freed since the state last executed.
Ohio is not ready to resume executions. It’s a waste of money, violates our shared values, and, most importantly, could be used to end of the life of someone innocent.
As Pastor Ruby so poignantly concludes in his op-ed:
There are many things we need in Ohio to make our lives better. We need each other and our faith. We need the best possible schools for our kids. We need well-funded programs to address addiction in our communities. Using our resources on executions in Ohio would be a step backward — risking too many possible bad outcomes and violating commonly shared spiritual values.
We can stay safe, save money and save ourselves by not starting up the execution machinery again.
Hopefully, Governor Kasich is listening.