Executions and clemeny in Ohio

This local AP story discusses the stories of the death penalty and executive clemency in Ohio as out-going governor “Bob Taft is debating a plea for mercy from a condemned inmate that, if rejected, will result in the 25th prisoner being put to death during Taft’s time in office.”   The article provides lots of information about the history of clemency and the death penalty in Ohio; it also spotlights that “Ohio has had one of the nation’s busiest death chambers since 1999, including executing the most inmates of any state after Texas in both 2004 and again this year.”

Interestingly, as detailed here at ODPI, this last possible execution during the Taft Administration could be disrupted by on-going lethal injection litigation.  And, as I have discussed in a number of prior posts, the new incoming governor and attorney general of Ohio have both expressed significant reservations about capital punishment.  Stay tuned.

Some recent related posts:

• Could Ohio and Wisconsin chart a path to a better death penalty?
• A new look at the death penalty in Ohio
• Early tests for a new capital era in Ohio?