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November 5, 2017

Ohio legislator claims condemned inmates "don’t like" her bill to abolish death penalty

It was the headline of this local article, "Republicans join effort to abolish death penalty in Ohio," that first caught my attention. But a quote and claim within prompted the title of this post, and here are excerpts:

With another execution looming next week in Ohio, a Democratic lawmaker is pushing a bill that would eliminate the death penalty in the Buckeye State. Although similar tries in three previous legislative sessions have gone nowhere, this time some Republicans are on board.

House Bill 389, sponsored by Rep. Nickie Antonio, D-Lakewood, would replace capital punishment with a life sentence without parole. “The consideration of death by the state would be off the table. ... This doesn’t mean they aren’t prosecuted to the fullest extent by the law,” Antonio said....

Antonio’s bill has bipartisan support. Reps. Niraj Antani, R-Miamisburg, and Craig Riedel, R-Defiance, are co-sponsors. “It’s a life issue,” Antani said. He says the ability to put someone to death is “way too big of a power” for the government.

As a Roman Catholic, Riedel opposes capital punishment. “It’s my faith that has led me to believe to not support the death penalty,” Riedel said. “Mankind is not in charge of natural death.”

This is not the first legislative effort that has tried to put an end to capital punishment in Ohio. In fact, this is the fourth time Antonio has introduced the same bill to the General Assembly. “We are not saying do not punish the criminal,” Antonio said. “Punish the criminal through a sentence of life without parole.”...

“I’ve visited death row inmates and they don’t like my bill,” Antonio said. She said they view the death penalty as a way to put them out of their misery....

Almost 140 prisoners were on death row in Ohio as of Oct. 2, according to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction....

Despite the shift in public attitudes, the Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association continues to support capital punishment.... The association has maintained opposition to the repeal of the death penalty, said Wood County Prosecutor Paul Dobson, president of the group. “We believe it’s a deterrent factor of the most serious crimes,” Dobson said.

Notably, this DPIC webpage accounting of "volunteers" lists 7 Ohio executed killers "who continued to waive at least part of their ordinary appeals at the time of their execution."  This accounting suggests that more than 10% of Ohio's 55 executed killers would not have been supportive of the abolition of the death penalty, but it suggests that more than 85% of those executed would have liked to have seen the death penalty abolished.   Because Ohio has 143 current killers on death row, assuming the same based breakdown suggests that maybe as many as 18 condemned Ohio killers do not like the idea of capital abolition.  But I suspect well over 100 of the Ohio condemned would vote in favor of Rep. Nickie Antonio's bill.

November 5, 2017 at 07:20 PM | Permalink

Comments

As insiders, they fully grasp, they will be returned to population, and the to the Italian Death Penalty. A lifer will be given a carton of cigarettes, and all kinds of tools will have been left around, "by mistake." For some reason, no one will be around. Then it is, Sayonara, Baby.

Posted by: David Behar | Nov 6, 2017 2:12:58 AM

It might be useful to know where the respective inmates are being held since there is more than one location in Ohio for death row, as I understand it. Possibility the views reflect the conditions which are likely to be more severe and less humane at one?

Posted by: peter | Nov 6, 2017 7:01:09 AM

Fanculo DB, fanculo.

Posted by: Claudio Giusti | Nov 6, 2017 4:16:46 PM

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