DeWine: Abolish the death penalty, money ‘better spent’ keeping ‘repeat violent offenders out of society’
Saying his “moral justification” for voting in favor of the death penalty “simply no longer exists,” Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine called on lawmakers to abolish capital punishment in the state.
“For the State to take a human life, there must be evidence that in doing so, it will help protect the public — that the threat of that action will deter someone from committing murder,” DeWine said in a prepared nine-page statement outlining his position. “…I do not believe that argument can today be made.
“Therefore, I believe Ohio should abolish the death penalty,” the governor added. “The Legislature can take this action, and I believe they should take this action. But, if the Legislature does not want to make that decision, they can leave it up to a vote of the people of the State of Ohio.”
Under DeWine, Ohio has effectively had a moratorium on executions. The last execution in the state took place on July 18, 2018, and in December 2020, DeWine said lethal injection is no longer a viable option for executions in the Buckeye State, calling on lawmakers to select an alternate execution method, the Associated Press reported at the time.
DeWine co-sponsored Senate Bill 1 after he was elected to the state Senate in 1980, which reinstituted the death penalty in the state. The Republican-controlled state Senate voted 23 to 10 in favor of the bill on June 30, 1981, and the state Democratic-controlled House voted 71 to 28 to pass it the next day.
Republican Gov. Jim Rhodes signed it into law, and it took effect on Oct. 19, 1981.
Now, DeWine, who will leave office in January after November’s election, said that locking up violent criminals and keeping them out of society is a proven way to save lives and protect our citizens.
“Our money and energies are much better spent focusing on keeping these repeat violent offenders out of society, than focusing on the death penalty,” DeWine said. “Any decision to officially end the death penalty in Ohio cannot change the horror and the anger we feel in regard to these murderers nor the deep sorrow we feel for the victims and for their families.
“We cannot sanitize this discussion,” DeWine added. “These murderers ended the life of a precious human being. These murderers have changed the lives of the surviving family members forever. Their lives will never be the same.”
According to DeWine, the state averaged 14.25 death penalty sentences per year in the 1980s and 13.6 death penalty sentences per year in the 1990s. Juries could hand down a sentence of life without parole starting in 1996.
The average dropped to 5.3 death penalty sentences per year in the 2000s and 3.7 death penalty sentences per year in the 2010s. Two people have been sentenced to death in the 2020s, DeWine said in his remarks, which were met with approval from the head of the Catholic Conference of Ohio.
“In a state and country in which alternatives to execution exist, we should support punishments that are in greater conformity with the dignity of the human person, made in the image and likeness of God,” Catholic Conference of Ohio Executive Director Brian Hickey said in a statement to the Associated Press.
According to DeWine, of the 337 people sentenced to death, 41 died of either natural causes or by suicide, while 89 were removed from death row by the courts. Just 56, roughly 16.6%, have been executed.
