Death penalty not colorblind (Kenny and John Spirko mentioned)

That's the conclusion of a recent Associated Press study on Ohio's death penalty

Does that mean prosecutors, judges or jurors value the lives of white people more than the lives of black people?

Does that mean that we try capital cases or sentence people based on the race of victims?

It means it's time for Ohio to put a moratorium on capital punishment and examine who ends up on death row and why.

There are other problems with Ohio's death penalty besides race. There's also place.

The AP analyzed 1,936 indictments reported to the Ohio Supreme Court from the time the death penalty was enacted in 1981 through 2002. In liberal- leaning Cuyahoga County, 8 percent of offenders charged with capital crimes got the death penalty. But in Hamilton County, which tilts conservative, 43 percent ended up on death row.

Nearly half the capital cases reviewed ended with a plea bargain, even in 131 cases where two or more people were killed.

Visit www.otse.org, the Web site of Ohioans to Stop Executions, and you'll discover:

Nationwide, 82 percent of those put to death had been convicted of murdering a white person, even though people of color are the victims in more than half of all homicides.

Just over 50 percent of those on Ohio's death row are black, although less than 12 percent of Ohio's population is black.

About 90 percent of all people facing capital charges cannot afford their own attorney.

No state, including Ohio, has met standards developed by the American Bar Association for appointment, performance and compensation of counsel for indigent prisoners.

Amnesty International's death penalty fact sheet for Ohio shows that the ultimate sentence is arbitrarily imposed. Of 211 death row inmates, 72 percent are from eight Ohio counties: Cuyahoga, 37 inmates; Franklin, 16; Hamilton, 45; Lucas, 17; Mahoning, eight; Montgomery, nine; Summit, 10; and Trumbull, 10.

The report shows a racial bias: less than 12 percent of Ohio's population is black; 87 percent of Ohio's blacks live in the eight counties with the highest number of inmates on death row. The report also shows that 68 percent of inmates are on death row for killing whites.

If you don't believe any of those reports, insist that Ohio examine itself. Anyone who supports capital punishment should want the process to be as flawless and as fair as possible.

The death penalty should not be based on race, place or the politics of plea bargains.

Here are two more reasons Ohio must halt executions and examine the system:

After 20 years on death row, Kenney Richey will get a new trial or be set free. An appeals court said Richey's court-appointed attorney was inept.

John George Spirko could be executed this year, even though a prosecutor hid vital evidence from his attorneys and the jury.

Last year, the Ohio House passed a bill to create a commission to study all cases on death row. The bill died in the Senate. It's time to bring it back.

Contact your representatives at www.house.state.oh.us and www.senate.state.oh.us.

Contact Gov. Bob Taft at 77 South High St., 30th Floor, Columbus, Ohio 43215. Call 614-466-3555. Or find him on www.governor.ohio.gov.

Demand a moratorium on executions before anyone else dies.

To reach this Plain Dealer columnist:

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