Committee studies Ohio death penalty

Associated Press

COLUMBUS

An Ohio Supreme Court committee studying the state’s capital punishment law has rejected a recommendation to collect past data to detect racial bias in death-penalty cases.

The committee also postponed votes on a recommendation to collect information in the future on all homicides that might be eligible for capital punishment as another way of detecting racial bias.

The committee on Thursday approved a recommendation to require prosecutors, lawyers and judges involved in death penalty cases to be trained to protect against racial bias. The committee also approved a recommendation to allow lawyers to seek the removal of judges whose decisions are believed to be affected by racial discrimination.

The committee convened by Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor is not debating whether Ohio should have the death penalty.