Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine said today that he and Ohio Gov. John R. Kasich have agreed to ask the United States Supreme Court to reverse a decision by lower federal courts indefinitely postponing the execution of convicted murderer Charles Lorraine. Lorraine was sentenced to death in 1986 for the brutal killings of Doris and Raymond Montgomery in their Warren, Ohio home. Lorraine will not be executed on Wednesday as originally scheduled, but Ohio will request that the indefinite stay of execution be lifted.
"We do not believe the stay of execution the federal courts have imposed here is warranted under the Constitution," DeWine said. "We want to give the U.S. Supreme Court an opportunity to review this case to ensure that there is a consistent constitutional approach to capital punishment. Ohio's execution process must comply with constitutional standards, and that should be the test as far as the federal courts are concerned."
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