Was the ABA’s Ohio death penalty report just a big capital waste?

Thanks to this post by Crime & Consequences, I see that the local AP has now documented in this article how and why the ABA’s mega-report urging a moratorium in Ohio (discussed here) has so far had no impact on the state’s death penalty debate.  Here are snippets from the article:

Death penalty opponents hoping a long-awaited study would bolster their efforts to end capital punishment saw the opportunity overshadowed by questions over the study’s bias and much bigger news from the U.S. Supreme Court….

[T]he study found itself in trouble almost immediately over the makeup of the 10-person team of Ohio lawyers.  No members are current prosecutors.  Four are defense lawyers, a fifth is a lawyer and professor who works to free innocent people through DNA testing, and a sixth is a Democratic lawmaker, Rep. Shirley Smith of Cleveland, long opposed to the death penalty….

“All you have to do is look at the membership of this group and see where it’s going to go,” said John Murphy, executive director of the Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association…. Criticism of the report didn’t just come from prosecutors.  Chief Justice Thomas Moyer of the Ohio Supreme Court, who has upheld his fair share of death sentences over the years, issued a brief statement promising to look at the results, while noting, “the Supreme Court of Ohio was not consulted in the preparation of this 500-page report.”