COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio Senate Minority Leader Nickie J. Antonio (D-Lakewood) and Sen. Steve Huffman (R-Tipp City) released the following statements in support of the press conference held on Sept. 6 by state Reps. Adam Miller (D-Columbus) and Jean Schmidt (R-Loveland), in which they announced their legislation to abolish the death penalty in Ohio

Research shows that Black people have been over- represented on death row in the United States since its inception and that the death penalty does not necessarily deter heinous crimes.

"I commend both Representatives Miller and Schmidt for their leadership in the Ohio House and joining the bipartisan effort to end the death penalty in Ohio," said Antonio. "By continuing to allow capital punishment in Ohio, we are permitting an unjust, expensive, inhumane, and occasionally erroneous practice. It will take both chambers and continued bipartisan work to accomplish this momentous and much-needed change in the state of Ohio."

"I plan to continue to work diligently toward abolishing the death penalty in Ohio, as it lacks moral and financial justification in our current society," said Huffman. "Replacing the death penalty with life without parole is a terminal sentence. It provides a definitive answer with the assurance that a person convicted of the most heinous capital case will spend the rest of their natural life behind bars and die in prison."

Antonio's and Huffman's Senate Bill 101 is currently pending before  the Senate Judiciary Committee.