---
title: 'Ohio Commission to Release Recommendations for Death Penalty Reform'
description: 'In 2011, the Chief Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court appointed a blue-ribbon Commission to review the state’s death penalty and to make recommendations…'
canonical: 'https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/ohio-commission-to-release-recommendations-for-death-penalty-reform'
section: news
date: '2014-04-10T19:04:42-04:00'
updated: '2025-03-14T14:37:36-04:00'
source: 'Death Penalty Information Center'
---

! In 2011, the Chief Justice of the **Ohio** **Supreme Court** appointed a [**blue-ribbon Commission**](https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/ohios-chief-justice-calls-for-death-penalty-review) to review the state's death penalty and to make recommendations for reform. On April 10, the Commission prepared to announce 56 recommendations for changing the death penalty**,** including**:**

► Require higher standards for proving guilt if a death sentence is sought (such as DNA evidence)  
 ► Bar the death penalty for those who suffer from “serious mental illness”  
 ► Lessen the number of crimes eligible for the death penalty  
 ► Create a Death Penalty Charging Committee at the Attorney General’s Office to approve capital prosecutions  
 ► Adopt a Racial Justice Act to facilitate inequality claims in Ohio courts.

See all [56 proposed recommendations](http://www.sc.ohio.gov/Boards/deathPenalty/resources/finalReport.pdf) from the Task Force.

(A. Welsh-Huggins, "[Death penalty restrictions recommended in Ohio](https://www.cleveland.com/metro/2014/04/death_penalty_restriction_reco.html)," Associated Press, April 9, 2014). See [**Studies**](https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/resources/publications-and-testimony/studies), **[Arbitrariness](https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/policy-issues/policy/arbitrariness)** and **[Ohio](https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/state-and-federal-info/state-by-state/ohio)**.