Bar Association Calls For Ohio To Suspend Death Penalty System

I guess that a review of the system is acceptable. However it must be taken into consideration that generally people who commit crimes are grouped together by similar backgrounds and economic conditions. That can explain why some regions have higher rates of crime. Also, it must be taken into consideration that people are tried by their peers, and different regions have differnt beliefs which may be why people in Cincinnati (a more conservative area) give more death sentances than Cleveland (a more liberal area). If they trial was fair the sentence should be carried out.

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Ohio should temporarily suspend executions to allow a review of the state's capital punishment system because of several flaws, including racial and geographic imbalances, a team of lawyers concluded in a study to be released Monday.

Too many defendants don't get adequate legal help and ways to guard death row inmates' rights are missing from the system, such as failing to require that all DNA evidence from a case is preserved while an offender is on death row, according to a 30-month review of Ohio's death penalty system by the American Bar Association.

The ABA team called on Gov. Ted Strickland to halt executions to allow a review of the system.

"The state fails to provide adequate measures to protect defendants," ABA President William Neukom said in a statement. "Nobody should be executed until the problems identified by these experts are addressed, and we urge a temporary halt to executions until fairness and accuracy are assured."

Among other findings, the ABA concluded:

• The state's system is flawed by racial disparities in death penalty sentencing, including a greater likelihood of defendants being sentenced to death if a victim is white.
• There are major differences in how counties sentence death row cases, for example, a defendant in Hamilton County, which includes Cincinnati, is far more likely to receive a death sentence than a defendant in Cuyahoga County, which includes Cleveland.
• Death sentences are being imposed and carried out on people with severe mental disabilities.
• The state's appeals system does not allow for a meaningful comparison of cases to determine if a defendant deserves a death sentence based on other similar cases.

Strickland, a Democrat and death penalty supporter, has allowed two executions to proceed since taking office in January. A message was left seeking comment Monday morning. Ohio is the seventh of eight states being reviewed by the ABA. The other states: Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Arizona, Indiana and Tennessee. An ABA team is currently conducting a review in Pennsylvania.