DeWine to announce stance on death penalty
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Gov. Mike DeWine plans to announce his personal stance on capital punishment next month.
Why it matters: For a governor who helped write Ohio's death penalty law decades ago but has presided over a de facto execution moratorium, the announcement is more a public declaration than a grand reveal.
- Still, his position could spur the GOP-dominated legislature to take action.
Context: Ohio hasn't carried out an execution since 2018, a year before DeWine took office.
- DeWine has delayed every scheduled execution during his tenure, citing the state's inability to obtain lethal-injection drugs and signaling discomfort with the system itself.
Driving the news: DeWine told reporters last week he'll spend the holidays drafting a statement.
Between the lines: The governor's personal opposition wouldn't change state law.
- But his public stance could influence whether lawmakers advance bills to either abolish the death penalty or revive it through new methods like nitrogen gas.
State of play: DeWine's posture has left Ohio in limbo, with executions on hold but costly capital cases moving through the courts.
- Attorney General Dave Yost's office noted this year that Ohio continues to spend heavily on litigating cases despite the standstill.
- Only two new death penalty indictments were issued in 2024, the fewest since capital punishment was reinstated in 1981, per a report this year from the advocacy group Ohioans to Stop Executions.
Zoom out: Ohio is among several states where executions remain paused. But Florida, Texas, Alabama and South Carolina have driven executions nationally to a 15-year high.
The big picture: Bipartisan efforts to repeal the death penalty in Ohio have surfaced repeatedly in recent years, bolstered by shifting views among former governors and some Republicans.
- Advocacy groups say Ohio has spent more than $1 billion on capital cases since 1981, with dozens of death row prisoners raising claims of severe mental illness or wrongful conviction.
Last week, Hamilton County prosecutors dismissed the capital case against Elwood Jones, who spent more than 25 years on death row before a judge granted him a new trial in 2022.
- A monthslong review found no reliable physical evidence, significant withheld material and modern testing that excluded Jones as a suspect.
The bottom line: Jones is Ohio's 12th death-row exoneree. OTSE says the case underscores the risks of a system already under scrutiny.