(COLUMBUS, Ohio) — Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost issued the following statement in response to proposed legislation to end Ohio’s death penalty:
“This bill’s introduction provides a platform for a much-needed, long-overdue debate about our broken capital-punishment system, which fails day after day to deliver justice to victims and their families.
"I support the death penalty, especially for the most heinous offenders and as a way to protect our corrections officers. Consider offenders already serving a life sentence who commit murder in prison – what penalty should they receive?
"The bottom line: Ohio’s death penalty is a farce and a broken promise of justice – and it must be fixed. This discussion has been a long time coming, so let’s have it now. If Ohio chooses to end capital punishment, let it own the decision in the full light of day. I will stand on the other side, with the families of the slain.”
Later this week, AG Yost will issue the “2022 Capital Crimes Report,” which includes information and a procedural history on each case that has resulted in a death sentence in Ohio since 1981, the year the state instituted the death penalty.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Steve Irwin: 614-728-5417
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