On June 16, Governor Mike DeWine called on the state legislature to repeal the death penalty or initiate a ballot measure, stating “It is impossible to make the case that the death penalty is a deterrent.”
I welcome the Governor’s statement and want to highlight facts he did not mention. Ohio’s death penalty consumes enormous resources and time and has resulted in several men being wrongfully sentenced to death. All of this discredits Ohio’s reputation in terms of attracting business, and I’ll explain why in a minute. First, a quick look at important facts.
The death penalty is costly. Ohio spends nearly $17 million per year maintaining it. The state’s Legislative Service Commission estimates that a capital case costs $1 million to $3 million more than a non-capital case. According to former Attorney General Dave Yost, capital cases cost between two and a half to five times more than non-capital cases.
An article published by Fox News years ago said it best: “The cost of killing killers is killing us.”
On top of expense, the death penalty consumes an immense amount of time. Generally, some 20 years elapse between sentencing and the actual execution because of lengthy post-trial proceedings. Dispense with those proceedings, you say? Well, those proceedings have shown that the system is flawed. Since 1981, 12 men on Ohio’s death row have been exonerated
DeWine is right about the absence of deterrence. Studies show there is no evidence that states with the death penalty have lower murder rates than states that do not have the death penalty.
Pharmaceutical companies have increasingly refused to supply their products for use in executions, in part perhaps because of how they have been botched. There have been multiple instances where state correctional staff spent hours attempting—and sometimes ultimately failing—to establish IV access to administer the drugs.
With all its defects, why is the statehouse reluctant to repeal the death penalty? You’ll hear talk about the need to execute “the worst of the worst.” In other words, we need to be able to exact revenge, but using state funds to satisfy primordial emotion is not a pillar of good government.
Back to why the death penalty is bad in terms of attracting business. Business owners are drawn to states marked by good governance, where systems and institutions work fairly and reliably. Ohio is often cited as a great place to do business. This year Chief Executive magazine ranked it as the seventh-best state for business, and CNBC’s comparable list for 2025—ratings for 2026 have not yet been published—place Ohio at number five.
This is a position we want to protect. We cannot ignore that a costly and error-prone system like capital punishment risks discrediting our reputation.
Funneling taxpayer dollars into the death penalty reflects fiscal choices that run counter to the state’s interest in remaining a top destination for business. We would be far better off investing in evidence-based crime prevention strategies and initiatives that strengthen economic opportunity.
Nearly 600 global executives from all sectors of the economy have signed the Business Leaders’ Declaration Against the Death Penalty, calling for the abolition of capital punishment worldwide. Among them is former Unilever CEO Paul Polman, who wrote of Ohio’s death penalty, “Companies have a clear interest in supporting criminal justice systems that heal our societies, rather than divide and destabilize them.”
Governor DeWine was right to encourage the legislature to abolish Ohio’s death penalty statue, and he can do more right now by using his executive clemency power to commute all Ohio death sentences to life without the possibility of parole.
Repealing the death penalty would better align with our state’s reputation as a stable and responsible place to live, work and do business.
[This post was first published in Crain’s Business Cleveland on July 28, 2026.]
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Jack D’Aurora writes for Considerthisbyjd.com
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