Death-penalty series includes inmate interviews

Since 1999, however, there have been 14 executions. And if all goes well - or badly, depending on your point of view - there'll be another on Oct. 13.

This year alone, Ohio has executed six inmates. The frequency made me think of Texas. What was going on? Why so many executions now? Were we trying to dethrone Texas as the champion killer of inmates?

Suddenly, the spotlight was firmly fixed on inmates who were nearing the end of their ap-peals. This includes several from this region. I wondered what they thought.

On Sunday, The Lima News brings you Part 1 of a two-part series that examines the death penalty in Ohio. It tells you why there are so many executions this year, and it offers reasons why we won't catch Texas in the numbers department.

An example: Texas has had double our number of executions this year. Even more striking, Texas executed 24 inmates last year and 33 in 2002; we executed three in each of the previous two years.

The death-penalty series also takes a look at an appeals process that runs to 19 years on av-erage. This is the thing that makes me the craziest.

If you're going to have a death penalty, 19 years seems a ridiculous amount of time for appeals. On the other hand, people make mistakes, even juries and judges. What do we do if we execute someone by mistake? Say "oops" when we discover it five years later? This is some-thing I worry about.

One of our local death-row inmates - John Spirko, of Van Wert County - has been on death row more than 20 years. He is the closest to an execution date.

While Spirko declined to be interviewed, the series also includes interviews with three other death-row inmates, including Kenneth Richey, of Putnam County, who's been on death row since 1987. Reporter Greg Sowinski also traveled to Mansfield Correctional Institution - where death-row inmates are housed - to interview Jeronique Cunningham and Cleveland Jackson. The half brothers were convicted in Allen County and have been on death row since 2002.

The inmates were asked about appeals, about waiving appeals, about the prospect of being executed, and about how they spend their days. Some of their answers might make you mad. One comment was just plain depressing. What a waste. These are people who, if they hadn't gone astray, might have led productive lives, allowing their victims to do the same.

You'll find this two-day series in The Lima News on Sunday and Monday. It told me what I wanted to know about death-row inmates and the penalty they face. I hope you will find the series just as informative.