TU Ohio Innocence Project to present program on death penalty

Tiffin University's student chapters of the Ohio Innocence Project (OIP-u: TU) and the National Criminal Justice Honor Society (Alpha Phi Sigma) will present a conversation on the death penalty at 7 p.m. tonight in the Marion Center. The program will feature Kevin Werner and Kendall White, executive director and deputy director of Ohioans to Stop Executions (OTSE). They will be joined by Pierce Reed, Director for Policy and Engagement for the Ohio Innocence Project (OIP). The presentation is free and open to the public. OTSE is the only single-issue death penalty repeal organization in Ohio, according to information provided by the university. OTSE represents millions of Ohioans who oppose the death penalty; they are the lead organization in the #NoDeathPenaltyOhio campaign to abolish Ohio's capital punishment system. OTSE cites racial disparity, financial considerations and concerns of innocence as the primary reasons for its efforts. The Ohio Innocence Project has been active in a legislative campaign advocating for Senate Bill 101 and House Bill 259, two pieces of bipartisan legislation that would abolish the death penalty in Ohio and replace it with life without parole. Nationally, 196 people have been exonerated after receiving a death sentence. 11 of those people were exonerated from Ohio's death row including three men represented by OIP. Ohio Governor Mike DeWine issued a temporary halt to executions in 2019 after a federal judge declared its three-drug protocol to be cruel and unusual because of the pain it inflicts on prisoners. DeWine stated that "we certainly cannot have any executions in Ohio" until a new method was developed. Ohio currently has 114 inmates on death row. Attorney General, Dave Yost, is supporting a legislative effort to bring nitrogen gas executions to Ohio. Since its inception in 2003, the Ohio Innocence Project has released 42 wrongfully convicted Ohioans who have spent over 800 years total in prison for crimes they did not commit. For more information, visit facebook.com/OhioInnocenceProject or contact Dr. Steven Hurwitz, Program Faculty Advisor, with any questions at shurwitz@tiffin.edu.