In March 2021 state, lawmakers introduced legislation that would end the death penalty in Ohio. The two bills, Senate Bill 103 and House Bill 183, have received bipartisan support. Both of the bills are currently in committee.
In bringing abolition of the death penalty to the table, Ohio officials have noted the death penalty’s disproportionate impact on people of color. Over half of the people on death row in Ohio are people of color, but people of color only make up 16% of the state’s population. In May 2021, the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus announced that abolishing the death penalty would be a “top priority.” Members of the Ohio Black Legislative Caucus and the Ohio Council of Churches explained this decision in saying that the death penalty “is a modern cousin to lynching, with people of color disproportionately sentenced to death.” Ohio Senator Hearcel Craig (D – Columbus) also stated that “this form of punishment disproportionately impacts Black people and other people of color, as well as the poor.”
At a February 18th press conference discussing Ohio’s efforts to end the death penalty, Senator Sandra Williams (D – Cleveland) explained that, in addition to racial disparities, the death penalty entails geographic disparities. She stated, “We should also note that depending on where you live, depending on who is the prosecutor, or depending on the judge or the jury, that also determines who gets the death penalty. You can be in one county doing one thing and be sentenced to death, and you can be on the other side of the state, do the exact same thing, and not be sentenced to death.”
Representative Jean Schmidt (R – Loveland), one of the sponsors of House Bill 183, spoke in favor of the bill during a Criminal Justice Committee meeting on May 26th. She stated, “there is a disproportioned group of people of color that end up on death row. In the death penalty system, racial bias works against defendants of color and in favor of cases involving white victims. Cases involving Black victims are far less likely to get a death sentence than cases involving white victims. The likelihood of a death sentence reduces further if the defendant is white, and it doesn’t stop there. Racial bias infects every stage of the capital process, from the prosecution, to sentencing, to execution.”
Representative Jean Schmidt (R – Loveland) also discussed Ohio’s history of problems with carrying out executions. She stated, “Currently, we don’t have a method of execution that doesn’t appear to violate the Eighth Amendment. We have a history of botched executions, most recently Joseph Clark in May of 2006, Christopher Newton in May of 2007, and Romell Broom in September 2009, and that is one of the main reasons why Governor DeWine placed a moratorium on executions in our state.”
Towards the end of her testimony, Representative Jean Schmidt (R – Loveland) stated, “If we profess to be pro-life, how can we justify ending a life, no matter the reason? Institutional confinement for the rest of life is just punishment. Society will be safe from the threat of violent offenders, tax dollars will be saved, it eliminates racial disparity, and most importantly, it will prevent the possibility of executing an innocent person.”
Both of the bills are currently in committee. After the committees hold hearings and deliberate on the bills, they will face a vote as to whether the committee will report the bills to the full state house or senate. If they do pass out of committee, the bills will then be debated and face a vote on the floor.