CINCINNATI – A prosecutor in Cincinnati is calling on an Ohio Supreme Court justice who recently criticized the state’s death penalty law to sit out decisions on all cases involving capital punishment.
Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters on Friday sent a letter to judges and prosecutors across the state questioning Justice Paul Pfeifer’s ability to be fair.
“Justice Pfeifer’s continued participation in deciding death penalty cases is inappropriate,” he wrote. “It gives rise to a credible inference that he cannot be fair to both sides.”
Pfeifer, a Republican, helped write Ohio’s death penalty law as a state legislator in 1981 but has recently said it isn’t working. In December, he told a House committee the law should be scrapped. He said he’ll continue to follow current state law but that judges are permitted to suggest changes.
“I know the difference between advocating for a change in the law and applying the law as it exists,” he said.
Urging the House Criminal Justice Committee to approve a bill that would overturn the current law, Pfeifer on Dec. 14 said capital punishment was meant for the worst offenders but has been used more haphazardly over time.
“The statute does not work the way we expected,” Pfeifer had testified. “What has enfolded is an application that is hit or miss depending on where you commit the crime and the attitude of the prosecutor in that county.”
The chances of the bill passing are slim, given continued support of capital punishment in Ohio by both Republicans and Democrats.
Deters has also leveled criticism at Pfeifer for telling the Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum last month that Hamilton County too often seeks the death penalty.
Pfeifer said he was not being critical of Deters but pointing out that the death penalty is sought unevenly throughout the state.
The Enquirer reports that Hamilton County has 28 inmates on death row, more than any other county, making up 19 percent of the 148 prisoners facing execution. Deters’ numbers show Hamilton County has indicted 55 people on death penalty charges since 1999, compared with 182 in Franklin County, which includes Columbus, and 390 in Cuyahoga County, which includes Cleveland.
