Capital punishment: What can Ohio learn from Maryland?

The Maryland state legislature recently voted, by a narrow margin, to abolish the death penalty. They join the 17 other states that also banned capital punishment.“Capital punishment is expensive and the overwhelming evidence tells us that it does not work as a deterrent,” said Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley in an opinion piece he wrote.In a press conference, the Maryland governor further stated the significance of a capital punishment-free Maryland.He said, “It shows that the anti-death penalty movement is accelerating.”But is it really?For some, the death penalty is the appropriate way to deliver justice to victims of heinous murders, while others see the scores of death row inmates exonerated of their crime through forensic science and cringe at the thought of those in the past who were not so lucky.The former, however, seems to be the prevailing sentiment in the Ohio justice system.In the Capital Crimes Report for 2012, issued by Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, it was revealed in the past 14 years there have been 50 executions in Ohio. This number may not seem particularly significant, except for the fact that it places the state firmly in the top five among all states for number of executions carried out.This list, which was published by the Christian Science Monitor, placed Ohio second behind Texas and noted that the Buckeye State’s use of the death penalty has grown steadily.Placed next to a state that practically prides itself on its ability to administer the death penalty, it may seem to some that Ohio is quick on the draw when it comes to capital punishment. However, in Ohio, there exists a substantial deliberative process that serves to prevent unwarranted executions.Ohio’s procedure for capital cases has evolved with the rest of the nation since the 1970s, when multiple Supreme Court rulings decided that while constitutional, the application of the death penalty required more consistent standards.As per these standards, death row inmates can petition four types of judicial review and one executive review in their bid for reprieve. Since 1991, Ohio governors have commuted 18 death sentences, and already this year, one convicted man has been granted clemency by Governor John Kasich.What’s more, despite five inmates joining death row last year, in the past several years the number of criminals waiting on death row has decreased from more than 200 to 142.Unfortunately for opponents of capital punishment, this decreased death row population is merely a consolation, as Ohio has no plan to cease the use of the death penalty in the foreseeable future.The first execution of 2013 has already taken place, and there are currently four more scheduled for 2014 and 2015.