Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has halted capital punishment in his state until a constitutional method is developed for executions.
“As long as the status quo remains where we don’t have a protocol that has been found to be OK, we certainly cannot have any executions in Ohio,” DeWine told reporters at an Associated Press forum. “That would not be right, at least in my opinion.”
DeWine ordered a review of Ohio’s method of execution in January. He acted after a federal judge ruled that Ohio could execute Warren Henness, because Henness had failed to provide an available alternative method of execution that would avoid needless suffering, by Ohio’s current method of execution.
The governor delayed Henness’ execution while the review is under way, cleveland.com reported.
Earlier this year death penalty opponents and drug manufactures challenged the constitutionality of similar methods of execution in Nevada. shedding light on the length that some states will go through to execute people, reported The New York Times.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom placed an indefinite moratorium on executions in his state.
“California’s death penalty system is unfair, un- just, wasteful protracted and does not make our state safe,” Newsome said. ‘Innocent people have been sentenced to death in California. Moreover, the National Academy of Sciences estimates that as many as one in 25 people sentenced to death in the United States is likely innocent.”
Henness was convicted of murdering his drug-abuse counselor in 1982 but maintain his innocence.
