|
|
| Ohio Prison Officials Ask To Stop Using Electric Chair |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 07/27/2001 |
|
Prison officials are asking the Ohio State Legislature to bar the use of the electric chair because of concerns about possible malfunctions. The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction wants lawmakers to change state law to make lethal injection the only option for death row inmates, department spokesman Joe Andrews said recently. 'We're looking at other states and what's happened with the possibilities of malfunctions and so on, and we just think it would be more difficult for the staff,' Andrews said. 'The probability of something going wrong and inducing more stress on staff is more likely with electrocutions. I don't think our staff needs to go through that,' said Reginald Wilkinson, director of the state prison system. Gov. Bob Taft has said he would support eliminating the electric chair. The next scheduled execution is September 12 for John W. Byrd Jr., who was convicted of killing a Cincinnati convenience store clerk in 1983. In the past Byrd has indicated he would choose the electric chair, but prison officials won't ask for his choice until about one week before the execution, Andrews said. The last execution by electric chair in Ohio was in 1963. Ohio has executed only two men since then -- one last month and one in 1999 -- both by lethal injection. |
advertise
|
privacy policy
|
add URL
|
about us
|
terms/disclaimer
|
contact us
|
join our team
|
help
Comments:
No comments have been posted for this article.
Login to let us know what you think