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Ending the Death Penalty
The ACLU opposes capital punishment because it violates the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment, is administered arbitrarily and unfairly, and fails to deter crime or improve public safety.
The ACLU of Ohio is committed to repealing the death penalty in Ohio once and for all.
The death penalty is an expensive, ineffective, racist, and arbitrary system that puts innocent lives at risk.
Did you know?
- Eleven people have been sentenced to death and then later declared innocent in Ohio. This kind of mistake is far too frequent when human lives are at stake.
- Black or African American people make up 13.3% of Ohio’s population and 55.8% of Ohio’s death row as of January 2023.
- Estimates from the nonpartisan Ohio Legislative Service Commission indicate that it may cost the state between $1 million to $3 million more per case to sentence someone to death instead of life without parole. Applying those estimates to the 119 people on Ohio's death row as of March 2025, the extra cost to the state of imposing those death sentences ranges from $121 million to $363 million.
At the Statehouse, things are a little complicated. On the one hand, a bipartisan team of state senators again is backing a bill, Senate Bill (SB) 133, solely aimed at repealing Ohio's death penalty. The ACLU of Ohio is proud to reaffirm our support for this legislation.
However, these senators and a pair of state representatives also have introduced bills, in the form of SB 134 and House Bill (HB) 72, that deceptively tie death penalty repeal to antiabortion and anti-medical aid in dying provisions. To be crystal clear, the ACLU of Ohio opposes these Trojan Horse bills. Not only do they undermine the Reproductive Freedom Amendment approved by Ohio voters in 2023, they also attack the core ACLU principle of supporting medical aid in dying.
Beyond that, a pair of state representatives also have reintroduced legislation, in the form of HB 36, to authorize executions by nitrogen gas suffocation. Instead of finally abolishing our broken capital punishment system once and for all, this bill seeks to restart executions by an inhumane method the United Nations repeatedly has condemned as a human rights violation.
Currently, 23 states plus Washington D.C. have cut ties with the death penalty; Ohio can and should be the next.
The Latest
Pope Francis on Key ACLU Issues
Pope Francis was a clear and consistent voice on several issues the ACLU of Ohio champions.
Cases, Campaigns & Legislation
Sep 11, 2023
State v. Raglin (amicus)
In Hamilton County cases where the death penalty is sought, a black defendant with at least one white victim is 5.33 times more likely than other defendants to be sentenced to death. The ACLU of Ohio submitted an amicus brief in support of removing the sentence and a new trial for Mr. Raglin.
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