Ohio Governor Mike DeWine Calls for Abolishing State's Death Penalty
DeWine, a Catholic Republican who had long supported capital punishment, says evidence shows it does not deter violent crime, leaving no "moral justification" for it.
By Gary Gately
Ohio Republican Governor Mike DeWine has urged the state to abolish the death penalty, saying evidence shows it does not serve as a deterrent to violent crime.
DeWine — a Catholic who co-sponsored legislation that reinstated Ohio’s death penalty as a state legislator 45 years ago but has postponed every execution since becoming governor in 2019 — said at a press conference Tuesday: “The moral justification I had for voting for the death penalty simply no longer exists.
“I do not believe that argument today can be successfully made, nor do I believe that there’s any chance in the future the facts that I’ve cited to support that belief will change,” he said at a news conference in Columbus, the state’s capital..
DeWine displayed charts showing that the number of death sentences handed down by courts has diminished significantly over time. He also noted that condemned inmates face decades of legal appeals, creating such lengthy delays that many die of natural causes or suicide before execution dates arrive.
The 79-year-old DeWine, who faces a term limit in December, said he had long believed the death penalty would prevent murders but that his opposition to capital punishment had solidified over the past year.
“Each decade that the death penalty has been in effect, the chances of a murderer getting executed get more and more remote,” he said.
DeWine also acknowledged the emotional toll the delays have inflicted on victims’ families and the mental health burden on state employees who carry out executions.
He urged the state legislature to repeal Ohio’s death penalty but said that barring that, the issue should be left to voters to decide in a referendum.
DeWine’s announcement drew praise from Catholic advocates for abolition of the death penalty.
Krisanne Vaillancourt Murphy, executive director of the anti-death penalty organization Catholic Mobilizing Network, said the governor’s call for abolishing capital punishment in Ohio “is an encouraging sign and reflects growing recognition that the state can move toward a more just and life-affirming approach.”
“Governor DeWine is a Catholic whose faith has always inspired his public service,” Vaillancourt Murphy said. While praising his “dedicated leadership and conviction on this pro-life issue” through his moratorium on executions, she urged him to grant clemency for the 114 death-row inmates in the state.
“Returning death for death only perpetuates cycles of harm and violence,” Vaillancourt Murphy added. “.We as a people of faith are called to show mercy, to believe in the power of redemption, and to provide opportunities for all people to experience healing and wholeness.”
Brian Hickey, executive director of the Catholic Conference of Ohio, also praised DeWine’s announcement.
“In a state and country in which alternatives to execution exist, we should support punishments that are in greater conformity with the dignity of the human person, made in the image and likeness of God,” Hickey said in a statement.
DeWine’s announcement came about a month after more than 300 faith leaders signed a letter urging him to abolish the death penalty.
Pope Francis revised the Catechism of the Catholic Church in 2018 to state that the death penalty is “inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person.” The Catholic stance against the death penalty applies “even after the commission of very serious crimes,” the Catechism states.
This revision updated a 1997 Catechism version by Pope John Paul II that permitted the death penalty in rare cases where it was deemed “the only possible way of effectively defending human lives against the unjust aggressor.”