The Law and Social Thought Program in the College of Arts and Letters collaborated with organizations and scholars from across Ohio to put on a panel discussion, “Innocence, Injustice and Executions: The Death Penalty in Ohio,” March 20 at McQuade Law Auditorium.
The event’s keynote speaker was Kevin Werner, executive director of Ohioans to Stop Executions, and featured panelists Kay Anderson of the Northwest Ohio Innocence Clinic; Kendall White, deputy director of Ohioans to Stop Executions; Dr. Jessica Ziegler, a professor of criminal and social justice at Lourdes University; Pierce Reed, director of the Ohio Innocence Project University of Cincinnati; and Dr. Renee Heberle, co-director of Law and Social Thought and a professor in the Department of Political Science and Public Administration, offered insights about history and status of the death penalty in Ohio.
Rebecca Zietlow, dean of the College of Law, welcomed the speakers and audience.
The event brought the Toledo community up to date on debates, legal and political, in Ohio about the technology used in putting individuals to death, the cost of the entire process, and the impacts on victim families and friends, communities, the condemned, prison staff, and society at large. The audience also learned about pending legislation in the state assembly and whether the death penalty will continue to be a legally sanctioned penalty.
“I am inspired by the number of students and community members who stayed after ask more questions and discuss what was said,” Heberle said. “We could not clear the room after the event formally ended. This was a learning experience for us all on so many levels.”
