Gov. Mike DeWine calls for Ohio to abolish the death penalty

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Gov. Mike DeWine Tuesday morning called on Ohio to abolish the death penalty, citing data that he said proves it is no longer a deterrent to violent crime.

“For the state to take a human life, there must, in my opinion, there must be evidence that in doing so it will help protect the public, that the threat of that action will deter someone from committing murder,” DeWine said. “I do not believe that argument today can be successfully made.”

DeWine cited data showing a decline in the last four decades of executions being carried out and an increase in the time inmates spend on death row.

“Even if the murderer is caught, indicted, convicted and sentenced to death, the odds are still pretty good they’re not going to be executed,” he said.

The last 10 people to be executed in Ohio, DeWine said, had been on death row between 14 and 32 years. He said since 1981, 56 individuals who received the death sentence were executed, 41 died by natural causes or by suicide while on death row. Another 89 death sentences were removed based on “judicial action” such as legal errors.

“I no longer believe the death penalty is a deterrent to murder,” DeWine said. “The moral justification I had for voting for the death penalty simply no longer exists.”

DeWine called on the legislature to abolish the death penalty or leave it up to Ohioans to vote on the issue.

The governor said some victim’s family members want to see the death penalty carried out, while others object to it for various reasons, including religious reasons.

DeWine has not authorized an execution since taking office. On multiple occasions, he has delayed executions that were set to take place, citing difficulty obtaining the drugs required for the execution.

“The most important way to protect the public is to lock up violent criminals and to keep them out of society,” DeWine said. “That is a proven way of saving lives and protecting our citizens. Our money and energies are much better spent focusing on keeping these repeat violent offenders out of society.”

DeWine said everything he’s done as attorney general and governor is aimed at dealing with repeat violent offenders.

“The most effective thing to deal with violent crime is to go after the repeat violent offenders and lock them the hell up,” he said. “That’s what’s effective.”

Now-former Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, who resigned this month to take a job at a nonprofit, had called for executions in Ohio to resume, calling the pause a “mockery” to victims.

“Is this a deterrent? Not everybody looks at it that way,” DeWine said. “There are people who very legitimately look at this and say this is the appropriate penalty for taking a life. That taking another life is the appropriate penalty. I get it. I understand.”

A spokesperson for Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy said he, “supports the death penalty only in the most egregious cases, and applied only after the legal process has established absolute certainty on every element of the crime, the facts, and the law.”

Source: wtrf.com, Kevin Accettulla, Adam Conn, June 16, 2026

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."
— Oscar Wilde

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