DeWine to commute death sentences in final weeks

Prosecutors in at least 10 Ohio counties have recently received notice that Republican Gov. Mike DeWine is reviewing one or more death sentences for possible commutation in the final weeks of his administration.

Those counties include Cuyahoga, Franklin, Hamilton, Montgomery, Summit, Lorain, Mahoning, Warren, Clark, and Butler, according to Louis Tobin, Executive Director of the Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association.

Prosecutors argue the process is being rushed as DeWine prepares to leave office in January 2027, after eight years in which he has delayed or commuted every scheduled execution.

“The law was enacted to ensure that someone who can no longer be held accountable by the voters wasn’t undermining the will of the people,” Tobin told the Toledo Blade. “It was intended to prevent exactly what is happening.”

That process was enacted into law in the 1990s after former Democratic Gov. Richard Celeste’s late-term clemency actions.

Tobin added that the normal commutation process “typically takes months and provides prosecutors, the victim’s family, and the public ample opportunity to express their concerns. Doing this in the short amount of time before he leaves office raises serious questions about whether he is honoring the state’s obligations to the victims of these crimes and to the public,” Tobin told the Toledo Blade.

Under Ohio law, the governor can direct the Adult Parole Authority to investigate cases and recommend whether a commutation is appropriate.

While the governor does not have to follow the recommendation of the Adult Parole Authority, notice of an investigation must be provided at least 60 days before a recommendation is made. Those notices are also required to be posted to the publicly searchable database maintained by the Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections.

According to the Toledo Blade, however, DeWine spokesman Dan Tierney said that the reviews began in October to meet the notice requirements and that the governor is examining cases individually rather than issuing a blanket commutation of every death sentence.

Warren County Prosecutor David Fornshell, president of the Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association, said using clemency in this manner undermines the decisions of prosecutors, juries, and judges.

“Even worse is the renewed pain that this is going to cause the families of these victims and over the holidays,” Fornshell said. “It is just wrong for him to do this on his way out the door with zero accountability to the communities and families that it affects.”

DeWine, who has issued repeated reprieves citing difficulties obtaining lethal-injection drugs, quietly commuted the sentence of Gregory Lott to life without parole in May. In June, he publicly called for the legislature to abolish capital punishment.

While a commutation typically converts a death sentence to life without the possibility of parole, no final decisions have been announced.

The development has drawn sharp criticism from prosecutors who argue the timing leaves little practical opportunity for victims’ families or local officials to be heard before the governor’s term ends.