COLUMBUS, OH — On the 44th anniversary of Ohio’s death penalty law taking effect, a group of lawmakers who originally helped create the state’s capital punishment system are now calling for its abolition. Twenty-seven former members of the 114th General Assembly sent a letter Friday to the Senate Judiciary Committee expressing support for efforts to repeal the death penalty under SB 133.
The lawmakers, who helped pass Ohio’s death penalty in 1981, wrote that the system has failed to achieve its intended goals and carries “grievous flaws” and unintended consequences. Hearings on the legislation have not yet begun.
“When those responsible for our current capital punishment system say it must go, our state lawmakers must listen,” said Sean McCann, Policy Strategist for the ACLU of Ohio. “Ohio’s death penalty is administered arbitrarily and unfairly, fails to deter crime, and puts innocent lives at risk.”
Marge Koosed, Professor Emerita at the University of Akron Law School, interviewed 44 of the 57 surviving legislators who voted on the 1981 law. Only five expressed continued support for the death penalty, while the rest said abolition is appropriate. “Everyone I interviewed agrees it is not working as they expected,” Koosed said.
Ohio’s death penalty was reinstated in 1981 with a 67-31 House vote and 23-10 Senate vote. Over the past four decades, the system has drawn criticism for arbitrary administration and inconsistencies in sentencing. Former Ohio Supreme Court Justice Paul Pfeifer, a principal architect of the law, has repeatedly called for repeal, describing Ohio’s system as a “death lottery.”
“Are we done with death in Ohio? We should be,” Pfeifer wrote in a law review article. “The statute…has fallen far short in so many ways. Ohio’s death penalty statute has, in practice, resulted in a ‘death lottery’ that should be abandoned.”
Advocacy groups, including Ohioans to Stop Executions, are welcoming the call for repeal. Kevin Werner, the organization’s executive director, said, “We know so much more today than lawmakers knew 44 years ago. And now that we know better, we need to do better and repeal the death penalty.”
While former Governor Bob Taft and former Justice Paul Pfeifer were not signatories to the letter due to current roles, several other original legislators have formally urged the Senate Judiciary Committee to move forward with abolition efforts.
SB 133, the bill under consideration, seeks to formally end capital punishment in Ohio, though hearings have yet to begin.
