"Death penalty study couldn't get traction," is the title of this article by Andrew Welsh-Huggins of AP.
Anticipation over the report was high, and the state's American Civil Liberties Union chapter scheduled a rally two days later, hoping to ride the tide of the report's findings.
But the study found itself in trouble almost immediately over the makeup of the 10-person team of Ohio lawyers.
No members are current prosecutors. Four are defense lawyers, a fifth is a lawyer and professor who works to free innocent people through DNA testing, and a sixth is a Democratic lawmaker, Rep. Shirley Smith of Cleveland, long opposed to the death penalty.
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The ABA's defense of the team's makeup fell flat, especially when former ABA president Michael Greco, who handled the report's release, said he didn't know the positions members held on the death penalty.
That stretched credulity given Smith's efforts over almost a decade to pass bills to study the fairness of the death penalty. Another team member, David Stebbins, is one of the state's most experienced and best-known capital defense lawyers.
Wow! All I can say is, it's about time. It's about time these stacked commissions are being recognized for what they are. It's about time that the liars who deny stacking them are being exposed. It's about time that the ABA is being recognized as an advocate for the defense side and not the big tent it claims to be.
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