Ohio legislators predict more talk, but no likely action, on state's dormant death penalty

As regular readers know, Ohio has not had an execution in over 18 months and Gov Mike DeWine has repeatedly delayed scheduled executions because of concerns about the state's execution drugs.  This stalemate has led to some talk of legislative repeal, but this local news story, headlined "Ohio lawmakers unlikely to address state’s death-penalty problems soon," suggests that both executions and repeal are unlikely in the near future:

Ohio legislative leaders indicated Tuesday that they will likely not take action anytime soon to abolish or formally freeze the state’s death penalty despite ongoing problems with finding lethal-injection drugs.

Speaking at the Associated Press’ annual legislative preview event, House Speaker Larry Householder and Senate President Larry Obhof acknowledged that fellow Republican Gov. Mike DeWine is in a “dilemma” by having to repeatedly reschedule execution dates because pharmaceutical companies have refused to sell the state the drugs used in lethal injections.

However, Householder said House Republicans, who hold a legislative supermajority, are “very much mixed” when it comes to what to do about the problem. “I do not know if we will have legislation this year,” the speaker said. “We continue to have discussions, [and] they are extremely mixed, as all of us have questions about this.  But we are talking, and I think that’s good.”

Householder again expressed qualms about keeping the death penalty in Ohio, saying it’s “extremely expensive to put someone to death” and that “we have a law on the books that quite frankly we can’t enforce.”  He ruled out switching the state’s execution method to a firing squad or hanging. “I think maybe it's a far greater penalty on people to have to live by themselves in a cell and deal with the demons that they have in their life every single day for the crimes that they've committed,” the speaker said.

Obhof said it’s “unlikely” that lawmakers would abolish the death penalty completely in the next year, as most lawmakers favor keeping Ohio’s death penalty for “particularly heinous cases.”  However, he predicted that both the House and Senate will “have substantial discussions about where we want to head overall” in the coming months.

Multiple bills have been introduced in recent years to abolish Ohio’s death penalty, mostly by Democrats. Those bills have gone nowhere, though legislation to prohibit executions of the severely mentally ill is currently moving through the legislature....

Ohio hasn’t put anyone to death since Robert Van Hook in July 2018. Since taking office last year, DeWine has postponed executions seven times, stating there will be no more executions in Ohio until the state can procure execution drugs. DeWine expressed concerns that if companies find that Ohio used its drugs to put people to death, they will refuse to sell any of its drugs (not just the ones used in executions) to the state.  That would endanger the ability of thousands of Ohioans — such as Medicaid recipients, state troopers, and prison inmates — to get drugs through state programs.

In addition, DeWine said he was concerned about a judge’s ruling last year that the lethal-injection drugs Ohio had been using were unconstitutional because they produced a painful drowning sensation comparable to the torture tactic of waterboarding.  That ruling was later overturned on appeal, but it still gives DeWine pause.

As of December, Ohio had 138 people on Death Row.  Twenty-four executions have been scheduled — the next being June 17, when Romell Broom, a murderer and child rapist from Shaker Heights, is set to be put to death.  Broom survived a botched execution attempt in 2009, after state officials tried unsuccessfully for two hours to find a vein to use for the lethal-injection drugs.

Prior related posts:

• New Ohio Gov puts halt to all executions until Ohio develops new execution method 
• Amidst persistent difficulties with lethal injection drugs, Ohio legislator to propose use of fentanyl taken from drug busts for executions 
• Might execution woes really lead Ohio's (deep red) General Assembly to repeal the death penalty? 
• Has Ohio really had its last execution?