With bipar­ti­san sup­port, Ohio’s House of Representatives passed a bill to cre­ate an 18-mem­ber com­mit­tee to con­duct an exhaus­tive study of cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment in the state. Under the bill, which passed by a vote of 64 – 30 in the Republican-con­trolled House, the com­mit­tee would exam­ine all cap­i­tal tri­als since the state rein­stat­ed the pun­ish­ment in 1981. The com­mit­tee would exam­ine issues such as race, gen­der, and the eco­nom­ic sta­tus of defen­dants and their vic­tims. It would also inves­ti­gate whether death row inmates receive ade­quate legal coun­sel, whether cap­i­tal cas­es are resolved fair­ly, and how delays in the sys­tem can be over­come.

Introduced by Rep. Shirley Smith (D‑Cincinnati), the leg­is­la­tion received strong sup­port from 31 House Republicans, includ­ing con­ser­v­a­tive law­mak­er Rep. Tom Brinkman (R‑Cincinnati, pic­tured). Brinkman, who set the vote in motion by back­ing Smith’s bill, not­ed, ​“I am 100 per­cent pro-life. I told my wife that the first time I get a sen­tenc­ing bill, I’m going to move this. I’d like to abol­ish (the death penal­ty) or have a mora­to­ri­um, but you’ve got to start some­where.” (Associated Press, November 10, 2004, and The Enquirer, November 11, 2004). Senate lead­ers, how­ev­er, may not allow the bill to come up for a vote in this ses­sion. See Recent Legislative Activity.

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