March 30
OHIO:
Report: 3 sentenced to death in Ohio in 2014
An annual report on capital punishment in Ohio says three people were condemned
to die last year, bringing the total number under Ohio's 1981 law to 323 death
sentences.
The report by Attorney General Mike DeWine says 53 inmates have been executed,
19 have had their sentences reduced to prison time, and 26 have died before
execution from suicide or natural causes.
The report released Monday says Ohio has 146 active death penalty cases,
including James Conway of Columbus, who received two death sentences for
different slayings.
Death sentences are increasingly rare in Ohio and nationwide as prosecutors
file fewer death penalty cases and juries choose the option of life without
parole.
No executions are scheduled this year.
(source: Associated Press)
*****************************
Backup of killers awaiting execution is building
Midway through Ohio's 2-year death penalty moratorium, a backup of men awaiting
execution is building.
There are 20 inmates either scheduled for execution or for whom prosecutors are
seeking execution dates from the Ohio Supreme Court, according to the Capital
Crimes Annual Report released today by Attorney General Mike DeWine.
State law requires the attorney general to submit a summary of Ohio's capital
punishment activity annually by April 1.
Capital punishment ground to a halt following the troubled execution of Dennis
McGuire on Jan. 16, 2014. State officials scrambled to come up with a new drug
supply to replace the 2 used for the 1st time to kill McGuire.
Instead, they were forced to change state law. Prison officials can now sign
secret contracts with "compounding pharmacies" to provide execution drugs.
Lawsuits remain pending in which death row inmates are contesting the
lethal-injection process.
The changes prompted Gov. John Kasich to push back the entire execution
schedule until next year. The 1st man slated to die using the new protocol is
Ronald Phillips, of Summit County on Jan. 21, 2016. There are 10 more
executions scheduled thorough the end of next year, including 3 killers from
Franklin County: Alva Campbell (March 23, 2016), Warren Henness (June 22, 2016)
and Kareem Jackson (Sept. 21, 2016), DeWine's report said.
There are 9 other inmates for whom prosecutors have requests pending with the
Ohio Supreme Court to set execution dates. None are from central Ohio.
DeWine's report said Ohio has issued 323 death sentences since 1981 and
executed 53 people who killed 85 victims, including 19 children. The average
age of those executed was 46; they spent an average 16.6 years on death row.
There were 19 death sentences commuted to life without parole by 4 governors.
Republican Gov. John Kasich commuted 5 as did Democrat Ted Strickland. Bob
Taft, a Republican, commuted 1 sentence, and Democrat Richard F. Celeste
commuted 8.
The report said 26 inmates died while awaiting execution, including Billy
Slagle, who committed hung himself in his cell shortly before his execution in
2013. There were 69 cases removed from death row because of court action.
Meanwhile, Ohioans to Stop Executions issued its annual report today which it
said reflects a declining use of capital punishment.
"What we see is the institution of the death penalty crumbling before our
eyes," said Kevin Werner, executive director.
(source: Columbus Dispatch)
TENNESSEE:
Time to reconsider the death penalty
Last week, Utah's governor signed into law a bill allowing the use of the
firing squad for executions.
Welcome to the Wild, Wild West, y'all.
What spurred them to do this?
It seems that the drug manufacturers in Europe won't sell the drugs if they
know they will be used to kill people.
This is Utah's way of continuing the ridiculousness that is state killing.
In just a few days, Christians will celebrate Good Friday, when Christ himself
was a victim of state killing, the one who stopped a woman from execution, the
one who said forgive, not just 1 time, but 70 times 7, and love your enemies.
Yet so many Christians forget the message of their God, the message of
compassion and love. Besides, most studies show it is more expensive to execute
people than to have them imprisoned for life.
Fiscal conservatives, take note! Instead of killing people who kill people to
show people that killing people is wrong, states like Utah and Tennessee should
invest that money in preventing violent crimes in the first place by spending
that wasted money on things like law enforcement, education, mental health and
mentoring for at-risk youth.
This would be a much better use of our tax dollars and would promote the common
good instead of revenge.
Brent Fernandez, Nashville
(source: Letter to the Editor, The Tennessean)
_______________________________________________
DeathPenalty mailing list
DeathPenalty@lists.washlaw.edu
http://lists.washlaw.edu/mailman/listinfo/deathpenalty
Search the Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/deathpenalty@lists.washlaw.edu/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A free service of WashLaw
http://washlaw.edu
(785)670.1088
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
