Ohio: More proof elections matter

January 6, 2007

Ohio: More proof elections matter

Scott Taylor at the ODPI blog is covering the fascinating story about Gov. - elect Ted Strickland’s & the death penalty. Strickland supports capital punishment in the abstract. Strickland’s problem with death penalty, it seems, is the same as many Americans, we don’t live in an abstract world & the death penalty as implemented. ODPI, borrowing from numerous news sources, notes:

Gov.-elect Ted Strickland said Friday he will not have ample time to review the case of condemned killer Kenneth Biros before the scheduled execution date, signaling the likelihood that the first execution of his administration will be postponed.. . .

Strickland said that, even if a court allows Biros’ execution to go forward, he won’t be ready by that date. ……”If it does go forward, I’m going to make absolutely sure that I have sufficient time to do whatever is necessary to properly exercise that authority,” he said.. . .

wo more Ohio executions are scheduled for February, but Strickland said he hasn’t made any decisions on those cases.

Strickland, a Democrat who supports the death penalty, said he also has concerns about recent court rulings questioning whether executions by lethal injection — the method used in Ohio and most other states — are cruel and unusual punishment.

“I would hate for someone to be executed on a Wednesday and then on the following Thursday for the court to say that we had just employed an unconstitutional method of doing that,” Strickland said.

The governor-elect said he has not reached any conclusions about whether he would consider delaying an execution on those grounds but would like more guidance from the courts.

AP has this. Youngstown Vindicator has this. Warren Tribune-Chronicle here. Columbus Dispatch here.