Ohio's billion-dollar execution system draws new calls for repeal
Advocates for abolishing the death penalty say it's time for Ohio legislators to catch up with public opinion and outlaw the practice once and for all.
State of play: No one has been executed in Ohio since 2018. Gov. Mike DeWine has postponed executions, saying the state is unable to secure the required drugs for lethal injection.
There are 114 people currently on Ohio's death row, with the next execution scheduled for October.
Driving the news: Attorney General Dave Yost's recent Capital Crimes Report characterized Ohio's capital punishment system as a "ponderous machine that burns enormous amounts of effort, time and money, all to no purpose."
The gubernatorial candidate still supports the death penalty. His preferred solution is for Ohio to expedite the process and work with the federal government to secure lethal injection drugs.
Yes, but: The advocacy organization Ohioans to Stop Executions believes the state would be better off ending capital punishment altogether.
What they're saying: "Repealing the death penalty is not just fiscally responsible," executive director Kevin Werner said at a press conference last week. "It is a moral and practical necessity."
By the numbers: OTSE released its own report finding that Ohio has now surpassed $1 billion on death penalty cases since the current law took effect in 1981.
Of those on death row, 40 have pending claims of severe mental illness or intellectual disability.
Thirty-five have been removed since the state's last execution for various reasons, including death by natural causes.
Between the lines: OTSE announced the formation of a new group, Ohio Homicide Co-Victims for Repeal, which will pursue a death penalty repeal and make the case that families of victims are not served by the current system.
Cleveland Ursuline Sister Joanne Gross recounted how in 1995, after the murder of Sister Joanne Marie Mascha, local prosecutors pursued the death penalty in defiance of the Ursulines' opposition.
What we're watching: Proposed bills to end the death penalty have some Republican support in the GOP-controlled Statehouse.
Another Republican bill would add nitrogen hypoxia asphyxiation — which has been banned for euthanizing pets — as a legal method of execution.
Zoom in: In 2018 and 2019, Cuyahoga County prosecutors sentenced more people to death (five) than anywhere else in the country during that time.
Prosecutor Michael O'Malley's support for capital punishment came under fire during his 2024 campaign against progressive challenger Matthew Ahn. But he has long maintained that the death penalty should be available to punish "the worst of the worst."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
19 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Pritzker to defend Illinois' sanctuary policies before congressional committee Thursday
It's the eve of one of the biggest moments of JB Pritzker's political career. In made-for-TV theater, the Illinois governor is in Washington to face the Republican-led House Oversight Committee. The hearing topic: sanctuary polices for undocumented immigrants. For Pritzker, long rumored to have his eye on a future White House run, the stakes are enormous. Pritzker's political future: Where things stand after passage of Illinois budget 'We're gonna see Donald Trump's Congressional Republicans really put on a show. And this is going to be full of political theatrics. They are going to try to put people on the spot, but I think Governor Pritzker is going to have a steady hand, he's going to do what he has always done, which is put the people of Illinois first,' said Lt. Governor Juliana Stratton. Governors of New York and Minnesota will also join Pritzker on the hot seat. Republicans are going after Sanctuary Laws, saying they protect criminals — and they're likely to focus on the Trust Act. This Illinois law enables people to report crime and call emergency services regardless of their immigration status. To prep, Pritzker retained a Washington, D.C. law firm. A source says the billionaire paid for their services out of his own pocket. He's also getting an assist from a former White House counsel to President Joe Biden. More than 15 arrested in Tuesday ICE protests; ICE tactical team on 'stand by' I think he'll be well prepared. He knows how aggressive the Republicans will be based on what they did with Mayor Johnson, but as you probably noticed, they kind of get ridiculous at some point,' said Congressman Raja Krishanmoorthi. In March, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson was hauled before Congress when Republicans took aim at Sanctuary City mayors. The attacks were relentless. 'This is why you have 6 percent approval ratings because you suck at answering questions,' said Nancy Mace. 'When there's trust between these city residents and police, undocumented immigrants come forward to report crimes to local law enforcement and provide information that helps police solve those crimes,' Johnson responded. Back from Capitol Hill, mayor talks Congressional questioning, CTU contract, Dept. of Ed. Republican Congressman Darin LaHood, rumored to be considering a run for U.S. Senate or Illinois governor, is expected to join Thursday's hearing to question Pritzker. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
20 minutes ago
- Yahoo
House Republicans draft competing budget as Senate nears deal with Hobbs
Photo by Jerod MacDonald-Evoy | Arizona Mirror Arizona lawmakers are at odds again, but this time it's the Republicans in the House of Representatives and Senate who can't agree on how to forge the state budget. Creating the state budget — deciding how much to allocate to departments, projects and initiatives or whether to fund them at all — is the most important job that legislators do each year, and the only thing they are constitutionally required to complete. Before the group of bills that will become the state budget becomes law, it must be approved by a majority in both the Arizona Senate and House — which are both controlled by Republicans — and garner a signature from Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs. In recent history, budget negotiations in Arizona have occurred behind closed doors among the governor and legislative leaders in the House and Senate. But this year is different, with Hobbs and Republican leaders in the Senate nearing a deal after weeks of negotiations. GOP leaders in the House, who haven't been involved in those talks, have responded by drafting their own budget, which was introduced late Wednesday afternoon. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX 'This is a sound, disciplined budget that delivers safe communities, strong families, and a government that lives within its means,' House Speaker Steve Montenegro said in a Wednesday evening statement. 'We're raising pay for our state law enforcement officers, reducing tuition at public universities, fully funding school choice, fixing critical infrastructure and roads, and protecting taxpayers. Our budget reins in government and puts it back to work for the people it serves.' But the spending package, which is chock-full of proposals that are unlikely to pass muster with Hobbs, will never become law. Instead, it is better viewed as a way for House Republicans to lay down a marker in order to force Hobbs and the Senate to move closer to the House's proposal. Republican political consultant Barrett Marson said House GOP leaders are hoping to demonstrate that the chamber can pass a spending plan in order to get leverage in the negotiations. 'Sometimes there's just gotta be movement to unstick a sticky situation,' he said. 'The House has an equal voice. And unlike previous years when one or both chambers had a go-it-alone ethos, the House isn't looking to be draconian or anything. They want something more responsible.' Marson said a major point of contention between the House and Senate is what to do with the budget surplus. While the Senate and Hobbs have settled on copying the novel process from 2023, in which each lawmaker was given a pot of money from the surplus that was used to fund whatever initiatives they wanted, the House wants to negotiate all of those details and not surrender control of that money to individual legislators. During a House Rules Committee meeting earlier Wednesday afternoon, House Minority Leader Oscar De Los Santos, of Laveen, said he was disappointed in the way the budgeting process was happening this year. 'We should not be moving forward with a House Republican-only budget that is destined to fail,' he said. 'This will not get signed by the governor. I don't even think it's going to pass out of the Senate.' De Los Santos even questioned whether the proposal would get enough votes to pass through the House, where Republicans hold 33 of the chamber's 60 seats. 'What we do know is that this is not a negotiated, bipartisan deal in good faith,' he said. 'House Democrats are at the table negotiating in a bipartisan way with the executive, with our (Senate) counterparts across the courtyard. That is the way to get things done in shared government.' But Republican Rep. Neal Carter, of San Tan Valley, replied that the work of governing should be done transparently, instead of in private — and that it should allow for input from the public. 'As a Republican, I stand for full transparency and not for back-room deals or negotiated budgets with parties that are somehow outside of this public process,' Carter said. The House Republican budget, introduced by House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Livingston, proposes significant changes in how federal money allocated to the state, but not restricted to specific uses, is controlled. The billions in unrestricted federal funds, currently controlled by the governor, would shift to legislative control and could only be spent on essential government services. The House GOP's budget proposal would also place new restrictions and monitoring requirements on entitlement programs, like the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System — the state's Medicaid program — and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly called food stamps. Both programs would be monitored on at least a quarterly basis for participants who don't qualify, to be kicked off. And any participants who win $3,000 or more through gambling or playing the state lottery and don't report those winnings would become ineligible. It would also give the Arizona Department of Economic Security the authority to screen recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families for illegal drug use and would ban anyone who tests positive for drugs not prescribed to them from the cash assistance program for a year. House Republicans also intend to increase the percentage of money spent in K-12 classrooms, as opposed to on administration; to decrease tuition for students attending the state's three public universities; and to ban those universities from using public or private money to give scholarships to students without legal immigration status. Hobbs introduced her budget proposal, which includes a much different list of priorities, back in January. Shortly after that, Livingston and Rep. Matt Gress, R-Phoenix, panned her proposal for leaving out projected cost increases for programs like AHCCCS. Hobbs spokesman Christian Slater told the Arizona Mirror on Wednesday that Livingston and Gress were to blame for the House's lack of collaboration on the budget. 'This is DDD all over again,' Slater said via email, referring to a fight earlier this year over funding for the Department of Developmental Disabilities. 'It's another circus led by the Speaker, David Livingston, and Matt Gress where they have refused to participate with any caucuses, including their Republican counterparts in the Senate, in a meaningful manner and are once again just trying to score some political points even though they know their plan is going absolutely nowhere.' Livingston and Gress, a former budget director for Republican Gov. Doug Ducey, were both key players in the fight over an extra $122 million in emergency funding for DDD that put vital services for the developmentally disabled in jeopardy. 'Rather than being productive, the House Republican leadership continues to show they are in over their head and unserious about governing,' Slater said. The House Appropriations Committee is set to discuss the proposal Thursday morning. The Senate Republicans have not introduced their budget proposal. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
20 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Rep. Luna: China is dangerous, behind funding of protests
(NewsNation) — Florida Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, a Republican, announced the House Oversight committee will be calling China-based billionaire Neville Singham to testify regarding the funding of a group that organized protests in Los Angeles. 'If he refuses to appear, he will be subpoenaed, and if he ignores that, he will be referred to the DOJ for prosecution,' Luna said in a post on social platform X. She alleged that the Party for Socialism and Liberation, a Communist political party to which Singham has previously donated, is also receiving funding from the Chinese Communist Party. The committee will be looking into links between Singham and the CCP, as well. Luna joined NewsNation's 'CUOMO' on Wednesday to discuss the investigation. She said she believes Singham and the CCP are purposely trying to create division within the United States. Hogg forgoes reelection for DNC vice chair 'I do believe the Chinese government knows what they're doing; they're smart and they're dangerous,' Luna said. She added that she believes they are creating a ruse with the protests and making Hispanic-Americans think the unrest going on is all about the recent ICE raids. Luna said during the Biden administration, then-Sen. Marco Rubio and Sen. Lindsey Graham asked then-U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate Singham over Foreign Agents Registration Act violations and ties to China, but the administration did not follow up. 'It's not just me, but the entire Oversight committee in Congress,' Luna said. 'This is a different administration. We are not playing games. What you are seeing in real time is things are heating up. China is not our friend.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
