Jim Petro: Ohio shouldn't risk executing innocent

Former Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro and wife Nancy Petro are co-authors of False Justice: Eight Myths that Convict the Innocent.

Throughout our lives together, we have held differing views on the death penalty. Nancy has always opposed it; I have generally supported the right of the citizens of a state to establish the death penalty as a consequence for the most heinous crimes.

Despite this difference, our views of the justice system have always shared a commitment to fairness, accuracy and public safety.

As a legislator, I voted in favor of reinstating Ohio's death penalty law in 1981. As attorney general, I oversaw 18 executions in accordance with Ohio law, but increasingly I struggled with my views on the death penalty. It's one thing to consider the law in the abstract; it is much different and more difficult to make decisions in a state process that concludes with the taking of a human life.

Nancy's view was unwavering: She believes the death penalty sends a message of vengeance to our children, diminishing the value of all human life and the culture. Increasingly, we both recognized that it is impossible to implement without a substantial risk of catastrophic error.

Over time, our views came together. My work gave me an up-close view of our death penalty in practice, which is much different from theory or intention.

Our justice system is based on the decision-making of human beings, and human beings are fallible. We make mistakes and our judgments are influenced by biases and imperfect motivations. Implementing the death penalty makes our errors permanent and impossible to remedy.

Nancy and I were horrified to learn what many have known for some time. Thousands of people have been, and currently are, imprisoned for crimes of which they are completely innocent. This includes some on death row. It is likely that America has executed people who are completely innocent of the crimes for which they were put to death. More innocent people will die as long we use this deeply flawed system.

The difficult truths about the death penalty must be met with honesty, integrity and a willingness to improve Ohio's justice system – so that we don't risk having Ohio on record as having executed an innocent person. In our view, it is a mistake not to require that interrogations of suspected murderers be recorded from start to finish. It is a mistake not to require that crime labs testing evidence in capital cases be certified. It is a mistake to leave broad prosecutorial discretion unchecked and without oversight. Today's criminal justice and death penalty systems are compromised by these and many other shortcomings.

We recently had an opportunity to share our concerns with the Supreme Court Joint Task Force on the Administration of Ohio's Death Penalty, which issued its final report in May. We appreciate the comprehensive work of the task force and wholeheartedly support the great majority of their recommendations that address the contributors to wrongful conviction and the unacceptable fact that innocent people have been sent to death row.

Today's legislative leaders have both the opportunity and moral imperative to fix these and many other weaknesses in our criminal justice and death penalty systems. In our opinion, they must act to implement many of the reforms recommended by the Supreme Court Task Force. Without action the death penalty system will continue to be an expensive, unfairly applied, and risk-filled process that has no place in today's criminal justice system.

Ohio may not yet be ready to part ways with the death penalty, but we should all agree Ohio is ready to make changes that will help ensure that the ultimate sanction is applied fairly and accurately.

If you go

What: Panel sponsored by Presbyterian Action Against the Death Penalty

When: 2-4 p.m. Saturday

Speakers: Former Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro and Nancy Petro

Panelists: State Sen. Bill Seitz, R-Green Township; Terry Collins, former director of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation & Corrections; and Kevin Werner, executive director of Ohioans to Stop Executions

Where: Mount Auburn Presbyterian Church, 103 Wm. H. Taft Road, Cincinnati 45219