Ohio’s death penalty system has experienced a five-year hiatus. The last execution was of Robert van Hook, who was killed by employees of the state on July 18, 2018, despite evidence linking his behaviour to his “bizarre, chaotic, violent” childhood. Nine reviewing judges found errors in his case of constitutional magnitude.

The five-year respite is, of course, very welcome. For the 123 prisoners on Ohio’s death row, including Jeffrey Wogenstahl, the atmosphere has become less tense. The respite also puts Ohio into a category that political scientist Austin Sarat defines as “quasi-death-penalty states, or de facto abolition states”. As he explains,
“[T]he longer a place goes without putting anyone to death, the more likely it will be to get rid of that penalty entirely.”

And as long as litigation about execution methods continues, and manufacturers disallow drugs for executions, Ohio is unlikely to change its position, at least while Governor Mike DeWine remains in office. He has said,
“There’s been no executions in Ohio since I became governor. I don’t anticipate there will be.”
As Governor DeWine’s term extends until late 2026, Ohio could well experience an 8-year period without executions.

While Governor DeWine remains publicly neutral about the death penalty, Bob Taft, a former Ohio Governor and one-time death penalty supporter, has appealed to the Ohio legislature to repeal it, calling it “a broken and incredibly costly system that fails to protect or aid us in any way.”

According to Robert Dunham, formerly Executive Director of the Death Penalty Information Center, when people get used to having no death sentences or executions, they “either forget how to do it or they sort of realize they don’t miss it and they don’t tend to push for it.”

While the current state of limbo can be unsettling, we should be encouraged by the direction of travel. It is more than possible that Ohio is moving slowly but inexorably towards abolition.