DeWine is wrong: Ohio should keep death penalty

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s announcement that he now supports abolishing the death penalty marks one of the most significant reversals of his long public career.

DeWine, a former Greene County prosecutor and one of the architects of Ohio’s modern death penalty law, says he no longer believes capital punishment deters murder. He also points to the practical difficulties Ohio has faced in carrying out executions and the lengthy appeals process that often stretches for decades.

While I respect the governor’s sincerity, he has reached the wrong conclusion.

The governor’s argument centers on deterrence. If the death penalty does not prevent murders, he believes its primary justification disappears. Deterrence has never been the sole purpose of criminal punishment.

We do not sentence murderers to life in prison simply because it may discourage future crimes. We punish criminals because justice requires accountability. Punishment reflects our society’s moral judgment certain acts deserve certain consequences.

For those of us in Southwest Ohio, this debate hits close to home. In 2019, we watched in horror as a gunman opened fire in Dayton’s Oregon District, killing nine people and wounding dozens more in less than a minute before being stopped by police.

The Dayton shooter died at the scene, so the death penalty was never an option. The tragedy remains a reminder that unspeakable acts of violence still occur.

Ohio’s death penalty is reserved for a narrow category of aggravated murders involving specific aggravating circumstances. 

Since Ohio reinstated capital punishment in 1981, more than 330 individuals have received death sentences. Fifty-six executions have been carried out. Numerous death sentences have been overturned through judicial review, commuted or otherwise removed from death row.

Opponents of capital punishment point out Ohio has exonerated 12 individuals who were once sentenced to death. Any wrongful conviction is unacceptable.

Many of the cases resulting in wrongful convictions originated in the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s, before the widespread use of DNA testing, digital evidence, cell phone data, advanced forensic techniques and modern evidence preservation standards.

Today, prosecutors and defense attorneys have access to investigative tools previous generations did not have access. DNA evidence has transformed criminal investigations, helping both convict guilty offenders and exonerate innocent individuals. Surveillance video, digital communications, GPS data, body cameras and forensic databases provide layers of evidence that did not exist decades ago.

Ohio’s capital cases already receive extraordinary scrutiny. Death sentences are reviewed by trial courts, appellate courts, the Ohio Supreme Court, federal courts and clemency proceedings. Decades pass between sentencing and any potential execution. During that time, new evidence can be reviewed, DNA testing can be conducted and legal claims can be thoroughly examined.

The greater problem facing Ohio today is refusal to carry out the death penalty.

Ohio has not conducted an execution since 2018. More than 100 inmates remain on death row, and execution dates have been repeatedly postponed. Governor DeWine has effectively maintained a moratorium because of difficulties obtaining lethal injection drugs.

Juries continue to impose death sentences. Victims’ families endure years of litigation. Taxpayers spend millions maintaining a capital punishment system. Yet the sentences themselves are rarely carried out.

The result is a system undermining public confidence in the administration of justice. If a jury imposes the ultimate punishment and every level of judicial review upholds the sentence, the public has a right to expect the law will be enforced.

If Ohio believes certain crimes warrant the death penalty, then the state should establish a lawful and workable method to carry out those sentences. If lawmakers no longer believe capital punishment is appropriate, they should repeal it.

We can disagree about capital punishment. It is one of the most serious powers government can exercise.

Justice matters. Accountability matters. For the worst crimes imaginable, Ohio should continue to reserve its strongest punishment.

Gov. DeWine deserves credit for following his conscience. On this issue, I believe Ohio’s juries, Ohio’s laws and the families of murder victims have it right.

Ohio’s death penalty should remain.

Rob Scott is the Kettering Clerk of Court, an attorney and a small-business owner. Contact him at rob@robscott.us.

This column first published on DaytonDailyNews.com. Read the full article here.