Ohio Attorney General's new report sparks debate over death row punishment

OHIO — Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost released a new report renewing his call to move forward with the death penalty.

Yost said the unofficial moratorium is a "mockery" to families and victims, but advocacy groups are pushing back, saying innocent lives are at stake.

In Ohio there are currently 12 people who were wrongfully convicted and exonerated from death row, but Yost said it’s past time to do what’s right for the victims.

“It’s time for us to recognize that justice requires action,” Yost said. “Today we issued the annual Capital Crimes report we’re required to do that by law and it continues to document a system that is working to protect against unjust convictions and sentences, but is not working because we haven’t actually carried out since 2018.”

This is Yost’s eighth and final capital crimes report.

Ohio is one of 27 states with a death penalty statute, but issues of obtaining lethal injection drugs have temporarily put a hold on any executions.

RELATED | While executions are on hold, Ohio death penalty costs still high

Gabe Davis, CEO of The Ohio Justice and Policy Center, a group against the death penalty, said the penalty doesn’t deter crime.

“It does not stop crime, does not stop violent crime,” Davis said. “I’ll tell you what does stop violent crime: giving people opportunity.”

A group of lawmakers gathered alongside Davis at the statehouse on Wednesday, advocating for giving second chances to Ohioans with a record.

Davis said it all starts from removing barriers for people who commit lesser crimes.

“One in three people in Ohio has a criminal or arrest record of some kind,” Davis said. “That’s millions of people here in the state that are impacted by their record.”

Ohio also recently exonerated the 12th person from death row Elwood Jones.

Kevin Werner, executive director of Ohioans to Stop Executions, said their report shows the system around the death penalty is flawed.

“By issuing this report, it’s really to shine a light on the cases of wrongful conviction, cases like Mr. Jones,” Werner said. “But also to recognize that there are other people who are on death row today who are, in fact, innocent.”

According to Yost’s release, Ohio right now has 113 people on death row facing 115 death sentences, the fifth largest population in the country.

Louis Tobin from the Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys’ Association said the system improved over the years, making it harder to make a mistake.

“These are most often cases that are 20 or 30 years old,” Tobin said. “They predate what we call open discovery in Ohio, which is the open sharing of case information, which we’ve had now since 2010.”

Source: spectrumnews1.com, Chrissa Loukas, April 1, 2026

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