Friday, July 17, marked eight years since the last execution in Ohio. Sr. Gemma Doll and members of Death Penalty Action came to the Statehouse to mark the occasion and to ask Governor Mike DeWine, who is also a member of the Catholic Church, to commute all remaining Ohio death sentences.
There are currently 110 active death sentences in the state of Ohio. No executions have taken place since July 2018 because the state has been unable to procure lethal execution drugs, leading Governor Mike DeWine to pause the practice.
Whether you live in Ohio or not, please send a note to Governor DeWine: While expressing your gratitude to the governor for his recent call for abolition, please kindly urge him to use his executive powers to commute all death sentences in Ohio before leaving office.
A letter in the postal mail is best. Some notes on how to structure your letter...
- WHO YOU ARE: Name and City. Non-Ohio residents may write too.
- WHY YOU'RE WRITING: Let Gov. DeWine know that you are thankful for his leadership.
- WHAT YOU WANT HIM TO DO: Urge Gov. DeWine to use executive clemency powers and commute all Ohio death sentences before leaving office.
- YOUR VALUES: Let the Governor know the issues and values that are most important to you (faith, costs, disparities, innocence, service to victims, etc). Consider including information from OTSE's new report below.
- KEEP IT BRIEF: Just 2-4 short paragraphs.
Send your letters to Gov. DeWine here:
Governor Mike DeWine
30th Floor, Riffe Center
77 S. High Street
Columbus, OH 43215-6117
Click here for a video of Sr. Gemma Doll speaking at Saturday's Death Penalty Action event.