Today's Columbus Dispatch reports, "DeWine: Executions on hold until legislators change law," by Alan Johnson.
Ohio will not resume executions next year unless legislators enact two key changes in state law, Attorney General Mike DeWine said yesterday.
“You’re not going to see a death penalty take place until the General Assembly takes action,” DeWine said during a joint meeting with David Pepper, his Democratic opponent in the Nov. 4 election. The session with Gannett newspaper editors in Ohio was streamed live on the Internet.
The execution issues deal with providing anonymity for “compounding pharmacies” and immunity protection for physicians who help the state with legal support for executions, DeWine spokesman Dan Tierney said.
Tierney said DeWine thinks two pieces of legislation, not yet final, must be passed in order to meet stipulations set down by U.S. District Judge Gregory Frost. Frost halted all lethal injections in Ohio until early next year because of concerns about the drugs and how they are used.
"Ohio Attorney General says new death penalty laws needed to enable executions to resume," is AP coverage via the Daily Journal.
DeWine, a Republican running for re-election, said Monday during a Gannett editorial board meeting that a law is also needed to provide immunity to doctors who provide "legal support" in the execution process such as consulting on drug dosage amounts.
Executions are on hold until February after a federal judge temporarily stopped them as questions mounted about the effectiveness of Ohio's new, two-drug execution process.
A spokesman for DeWine's Democratic opponent, David Pepper, says future legislative proposals on the death penalty should get thorough and thoughtful consideration.
Also in Ohio, WOSU-FM posts, "Anti-Death Penalty Group Plans Central Ohio Forum," by the AP.
The state’s leading anti-death penalty group plans a series of forums this week to publicize the work of a Supreme Court panel that reviewed the state’s capital punishment law.
The panel’s final report includes recommendations that proponents say could reduce the role of race in capital punishment along with disparities in death cases by county.
Ohioans to Stop Executions is planning evening events Tuesday in Columbus, Wednesday in Wilmington and Thursday in Springfield.
Earlier coverage from Ohio begins at the link. You can also jump to news of the Joint Task Force to Review the Administration of Ohio's Death Penalty, with links to the Final Report & Recommendations and the Dissenting Report of the Joint Task Force.
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