Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost held a press conference January 30 to announce legislation to bring the gas chamber to Ohio so that once he is elected governor, he can resume executions - this time with horrific nitrogen gas asphyxiation.  Wow.

This comes in a moment when a clear majority of Ohioans oppose executions and support legislation to end Ohio's death penalty. The ACLU of Ohio released a new poll just today. Read about that here.

I've been working to stop executions in Ohio since 1988 or 89 - somewhere in there. I think we're going to get it done in the current legislative session, but now we are going to have to fight harder than ever.  We all need to do our part.

Please use our letter-writing tool to make sure all of our Ohio legislators know that they have our support to pass this vital legislation. Death Penalty Action is providing a letter-writing tool to make it easy: Click here to write your Ohio legislators. Eve if you have done so recently, after today's, it is important to do so again at this time.

Also, Ohioans to Stop Executions launched this petition. Click here to be sure to add your name!

Statement of Allison Cohen, Executive Director, Ohioans to Stop Executions:

“Many smart and well-intentioned people tried to fix the death penalty for decades, and yet Ohio still wastes millions of dollars on a punishment that is completely arbitrary, doesn’t deter crime, and threatens innocent lives. Claiming that the adoption of nitrogen hypoxia executions ‘fixes’ the death penalty ignores all of the systemic failures that have led to greater suffering for the families of victims. Ohio has other means of holding people accountable for their actions and keeping our society safe without retraumatizing the families of victims and placing additional burdens on our prison staff. Ohioans to Stop Executions calls on the legislature to choose the option that affirms the value of life – abolishing the death penalty.”

#NoDeathPenaltyOH is the official campaign to end Ohio’s death penalty. We represent a broad coalition of groups across Ohio calling for an end to an expensive, racist, arbitrary system that convicts innocent people. #NoDeathPenaltyOH speaks for the millions of Ohioans who no longer believe the death penalty is an effective means of achieving “equal justice under law.” For more information go to https://nodeathpenaltyoh.com/