by James Oliphant
After a 30-month review of Ohio’s death penalty system, the American Bar Association today called upon the state to temporarily halt executions so the system can be reformed.
A panel of legal experts, working under the auspices of the ABA’s national death penalty project, concluded that the state’s death penalty system is “flawed” due to inadequate procedures to protect defendants. Those inadequacies include the failure to require the preservation of biological evidence for as long as a defendant is on death row, the failure to provide adequate legal services to all capital defendants and death row inmates, racial and geographic disparities in capital sentencing, and the failure to provide sufficient safeguards to protect the rights of capital defendants and death row inmates with mental disabilities.
As a result, the ABA today asked Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland to issue a moratorium. A copy of the ABA study can be found here.
"Ohio’s own experts have concluded that the state fails to provide adequate measures to protect defendants. As has happened elsewhere, Ohio has exonerated five inmates who spent years on death row,” said ABA President William H. Neukom in a statement. “The ABA agrees with the team’s view that nobody should be executed until the problems identified by these experts are addressed, and we urge a temporary halt to executions until fairness and accuracy are assured," he said.
Seven years ago, Illinois instituted its own moratorium on executions after 13 wrongfully convicted men were freed from death row. Three years later, then-Gov. George Ryan granted clemency to all 167 inmates facing execution.
There are 184 prisoners on death row in Ohio. You can find more information about them here.
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Comments
This is interesting, but it's still nowhere near as big news as the New York Times admitting it should not have given Moveon.org a more than %50 discount or even allowed the personal attacks in its ad against General Petraeus, where, oh where could the Swamp posting on one of the biggest political stories of the day be?
Thank God we've got the Washington Post to print the grey lady's mea culpas.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/23/AR2007092300752.html
Times Public Editor Clark Hoyt: "I think the ad violated the Times' own written standards."
Why isn't this the top story of the day at the Swamp. This silence is shameful.
Posted by: Anonymous2 | September 24, 2007 12:15 PM
So what you're saying, A2, is that the prospect of Ohio killing innocent people is much less important than how much money the Times charged for a single ad. You surely must be a Republicant.
Posted by: a blinkin | September 24, 2007 2:09 PM
Quit trying to confuse the issue, A Blinkin.
This story's certainly important, but it won't be front page news anywhere but in Ohio and here since the moratorium that continues in Illinois. I've never said the story is unimportant. But the Times issuing a mea culpa is news everywhere, especially to the families of the soldiers moveon insulted.
p.s. There's a "prospect" of innocent people being executed in every state that has capital punishment. I'd wager that the procedures being used in Ohio aren't much worse than many other states. All this report does, and the ABA's response to it, is put Ohio under the microscope. The potential for injustice is just as bad, if not worse, in states that aren't doing these studies.
Posted by: Anonymous2 | September 24, 2007 3:02 PM
Anybody from Illinois commenting about the death penalty ought to be very circumspect before doing so.
Through DNA testing Illinois exonerated more death row inmates than were executed since the reinstation of the death penalty subsequent the U.S. Supreme Court's early '70s finding of its unconstitutionality.
What disgusts me even more is the religious self-righteous attitude of some, that those that were executed don't deserve to have their trial evidence reviewed.
The death penalty is not only morally wrong but exceeedingly fallible. You can let a man out of the slam, but you can't bring him back from the grave.
America should join the rest of the civilized world and end the death penality.
Posted by: Doug Zook | September 24, 2007 4:52 PM
No argument with that, Doug.
Posted by: Formerlyanonymous | September 24, 2007 5:41 PM
You certainly don't want to be an innocent person standing before an American court of law today, particularly if the judge and prosecution are hard line 'law and order' Republicans.
They tend to believe you wouldn't be there if you hadn't done anything wrong.
Unfortunately, law proceedings have nothing to do with finding the truth, and all to do with politics and career advancement.
Posted by: C.Morris | September 24, 2007 10:18 PM
C. Morris:
I think your being a bit over cynical. Seing a wrongfully accused person walk on their charges is not an uncommon occurrence. In the eighteen years I practiced law, I never had an innocent client who was convicted on my watch. And I'm not bragging either. I don't fancy that I was anything special. Having an innocent client just makes it a whole lot easier.
Posted by: John W. | September 25, 2007 1:58 AM
John W,
Perhaps, but just a bit.
Posted by: C.Morris | September 25, 2007 12:33 PM