Capital punishment could soon be on its way out of Ohio. Recent efforts from the governor, the attorney general, and state legislators suggest the state is moving away from the practice.
Ohio's last execution was in 2018. Republican Gov. Mike DeWine has been slowly phasing out executions since he was elected. In 2019, he rescheduled an execution, citing fears "that the use of a particular drug that we would announce that would be used in [an execution] protocol might result in that particular drug company cutting off the state of Ohio." In 2020, DeWine declared an "unofficial moratorium" on the death penalty because of the difficulties in obtaining the necessary drugs to carry out a lethal injection execution "without endangering other Ohioans." And last week, he granted reprieves of execution for three death-row prisoners—extending each of their execution dates by over three years.
