Former Justice Stratton says she’s now opposed to death penalty
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| Former Ohio Supreme Court Justice Evelyn Lundberg Stratton announced her retirement from the court last year. |
In nearly three terms on the Ohio Supreme Court, former Justice Evelyn
Lundberg Stratton sided with the majority most of the time when
convicted murderers were put to death.
From 1996 through the end of last year, spanning the time Stratton was a justice on the court, Ohio executed 49 men by lethal injection.
But nearly six months after leaving the court, the Republican, now an attorney in private practice in Columbus, has changed her views.
Stratton yesterday told members of an Ohio Supreme Court task force reviewing administration of the death penalty that she didn’t have a strong feeling about capital punishment while serving on the court.
“I have evolved to where I don’t think the death penalty is effective,” she said in an interview. “I don’t have a moral inhibition ... Overall, it’s just not the best way to deal with it on a number of different levels.”
Stratton said she has long opposed executions involving mentally ill defendants, but she now opposes capital punishment in general because she doesn’t see it as a deterrent and victims’ families don’t gain the finality they seek when the murderer is put to death.
Stratton said she would still have objections even if many of the issues being reviewed are resolved by the Ohio Supreme Court task force. The panel is jointly operated by the court and the Ohio State Bar Association. The former justice was asked to speak to the task force, which includes judges, prosecutors, public defenders and others, to discuss her concerns about mentally ill defendants in capital cases.
Justice Paul E. Pfeifer, a Republican justice on the court and an original sponsor of Ohio’s current death penalty law, announced two years ago that he opposes it.
From 1996 through the end of last year, spanning the time Stratton was a justice on the court, Ohio executed 49 men by lethal injection.
But nearly six months after leaving the court, the Republican, now an attorney in private practice in Columbus, has changed her views.
Stratton yesterday told members of an Ohio Supreme Court task force reviewing administration of the death penalty that she didn’t have a strong feeling about capital punishment while serving on the court.
“I have evolved to where I don’t think the death penalty is effective,” she said in an interview. “I don’t have a moral inhibition ... Overall, it’s just not the best way to deal with it on a number of different levels.”
Stratton said she has long opposed executions involving mentally ill defendants, but she now opposes capital punishment in general because she doesn’t see it as a deterrent and victims’ families don’t gain the finality they seek when the murderer is put to death.
Stratton said she would still have objections even if many of the issues being reviewed are resolved by the Ohio Supreme Court task force. The panel is jointly operated by the court and the Ohio State Bar Association. The former justice was asked to speak to the task force, which includes judges, prosecutors, public defenders and others, to discuss her concerns about mentally ill defendants in capital cases.
Justice Paul E. Pfeifer, a Republican justice on the court and an original sponsor of Ohio’s current death penalty law, announced two years ago that he opposes it.
Courtesy: The Columbus Dispatch
