COLUMBUS – This week the ACLU of Ohio placed a billboard advertisement in Capital Square with a bleak reminder about Ohio’s capital punishment system: “For Every FIVE People the State of Ohio Has Executed, ONE Person Has Been Found Innocent.” This message is in support of the No Death Penalty OH campaign, working to permanently stop executions in Ohio.
In January, the ACLU of Ohio and Ohioans to Stop Executions (OTSE) released a statewide public opinion poll of voters’ views on capital punishment, conducted by the Tarrance Group, and the results show that 59% of Ohioans support repealing the death penalty.
In February, a team of bipartisan lawmakers introduced HB 183 and SB 103 – identical companion bills that would repeal Ohio’s death penalty. Both bills have strong bipartisan support, demonstrating how important repeal is to both sides of the aisle.
“The moment is ripe for repeal. The death penalty is an expensive, ineffective, racist, and arbitrary system that puts innocent lives at risk. We hope this billboard serves as a stark reminder to Ohio lawmakers that our capital punishment system is broken. We have legislative solutions that demand action,” noted J. Bennett Guess, Executive Director for the ACLU of Ohio. “As of today, 23 states plus Washington D.C. have cut ties with the death penalty, Ohio can and should be the next.”
For more information, visit NoDeathPenaltyOH.com
