"Tragically, the death penalty compounds the loss of human life with the deliberate taking of another life. Additionally, the administration of the death penalty disproportionately impacts people who live in poverty, those who are uneducated, people who live in marginalized racial and ethnic communities, and people with mental impairments. Further, modern advances in technology have shown that a significant number of people are wrongly convicted of the crimes with which they have been charged." - United Methodist Social Principles 2025-2028, Political Community, Government Responsibilities
The Death Penalty: Myth vs. Fact
- Myth: The death penalty deters crime.
- Fact: There is no evidence that the death penalty deters violent crime. The South, which accounts for 80% of executions in the U.S., also has the highest murder rate.
- Myth: Executions save money.
- Fact: Capital punishment is the most expensive part of our criminal justice system.
- Myth: We only sentence people to death row when we are certain of their guilt.
- Fact: Since 1973, more than 190 death row inmates have been exonerated of all charges and released - 11 of them in Ohio.
- Myth: Ohioans support the death penalty.
- Fact: In 2020, 59% of Ohioans supported replacing the death penalty with a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Source: No Death Penalty Ohio, 'Myth vs Fact'
What can you do?
- Learn more about the death penalty in Ohio through No Death Penalty Ohio or Ohioans to Stop Executions.
- Contact your lawmakers to urge them to support legislation that will abolish the death penalty in Ohio.
- Download advocacy resources from No Death Penalty Ohio.
- Invite a speaker to your church or organization.
- Sign on to letters that urge action against the death penalty in Ohio.
- Join a grassroots training from No Death Penalty Ohio.
- Host an event at your church or in your community.
| Did You Know? |
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| Since 1973, 190 former death-row prisoners have been exonerated of all charges related to the wrongful convictions that had put them on death row. |
Resources
- UM Church & Society
- Death Penalty Information Center
- Center on Wrongful Convictions
- Innocence Project
- No Death Penalty (U.S.)
- Witness to Innocence
- People of Faith Against the Death Penalty
Contact Mariellyn Grace, Director of Mission Engagement, with questions or for more information.