COLUMBUS – Another legislative effort to end the death penalty in Ohio has emerged, but this one is a little different.
READ MORE: In the Columbus Dispatch
Efforts by minority Democrats to end the death penalty in Ohio are not new. But the latest bill also has a Republican joint sponsor, Rep. Niraj Antani of Miamisburg, and the support of at least four other House Republicans.
Araj says he continues to talk to members about why getting rid of death penalty fits with conservative principles.
“Pro-life, small government conservatives should be against the death penalty,” added Antani, who says he believes there is growing momentum within the GOP to end the death penalty.
“It’s my intention to continue this. Changes are not made swiftly,” Antani said, arguing that the more people become educated about the problems with the state’s death penalty system, the more they will turn against it.
Rep. Nickie Antonio (D-Lakewood) is jointly sponsoring the bill, prior versions of which have gone nowhere.
“Research has shown that the death penalty is administered with disparities across economical and racial line and fails to act as a deterrent to violent crime,” Antonio said.
The latest push is occurring against the backdrop of a state criminal justice system that has not executed an inmate since Jan. 16, 2014, when Dennis McGuire struggled and gasped for several minutes before succumbing to a combination of drugs never used before in the United States.
Ohio adopted its current capital punishment statute in 1981. To date, Ohio has executed a total of 393 convicts, while over 140 other prisoners remain on death row. The state has 21 executions scheduled over the next four years
If passed, Ohio would join 19 other states in abolishing the death penalty.