In the wake of Dennis McGuire’s controversial execution last week, legislative Democrats are ramping up efforts to halt — or at least modify — the death penalty in Ohio.
State Sen. Edna Brown, a Toledo Democrat, called for an immediate moratorium on the death penalty and announced she would introduce legislation to abolish its practice in the state. Brown sponsored a similar bill in 2011.
In addition, Democratic state Rep. Bob Hagan of Youngstown said in a release that he’s introducing a bill that would require the governor and the state’s prisons chief to be personally present during all future executions.
Both bills come after McGuire, convicted of raping, choking and stabbing a 22-year-old woman in 1989, was the first person in the United States to be put to death using a new and untried lethal-injection cocktail involving midazolam, a sedative, and hydromorphone, a morphine derivative.
McGuire made several loud snorting sounds during his execution last Thursday, which took more than 15 minutes and was one of the longest executions since Ohio resumed using capital punishment in 1999.
Brown said in a release that the circumstances of McGuire’s death were appalling.
“This flawed execution reinforces my belief that the death penalty is an outdated method of punishment that has no place in civilized society,” she said.
In addition, an already-introduced House bill to abolish the death penalty will come before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday.
House Bill 385 would substitute capital punishment with life imprisonment, with parole options after 20 or 30 years for some of those who plead guilty to or are convicted of aggravated murder.
Cleveland-area Democratic Reps. Dan Ramos of Lorain and Nickie Antonio of Lakewood introduced the legislation last month.
Ramos and Antonio have cited reasons such as DNA evidence testing and racial disparities in sentencing as reasons to abolish capital punishment.
All three Democratic bills face an uphill climb in the Ohio General Assembly, as Republicans have significant majorities in both the House and Senate.
The Department of Rehabilitation and Correction will conduct a review of Ohio’s death penalty procedures, as is standard policy after every execution, according to department spokeswoman JoEllen Smith.
Click here to read more of this story.
About Marion Online News
