Legal Commentary

Rethinking the Ohio Death Penalty

By TChris

Reacting to a court's decision that Ohio law precludes using a mixture of three drugs to execute prisoners, The Plain Dealer invites Ohioans to reconsider the death penalty:

There is always the danger, despite safeguards in the criminal justice system, that an innocent person will be killed. The road to the death chamber is usually long and expensive. Survivors of a heinous crime may never get the closure they desire. The state is put in the awkward position of taking life in the name of protecting it. And then there are the death chamber embarrassments - procedures that take longer than anyone can stomach in part because they're done by nonmedical personnel using rudimentary equipment.

According to The Plain Dealer, "the death penalty - however administered - has no place in 21st century Ohio."

Full post as published by TalkLeft on June 21, 2008 (boomark / email).