Ohio rabbis among participants in Death Penalty Abolition Week – Cleveland Jewish News

Members of the Jewish faith from Cleveland and Columbus joined the Ohio Religious Action Center, along with the ACLU and Ohioans To Stop Executions by pledging to take action as part of Death Penalty Abolition Week from Oct. 8 to Oct. 17 to work toward abolishing the death penalty in Ohio.

Rabbi Joshua Caruso of Anshe Chesed Fairmount Temple in Beachwood and Rabbi Rick Kellner of Congregation Beth Tikvah in Worthington, a Columbus suburb, joined religious leaders and concerned citizens of a number of faiths in a virtual lobbying session with members of the Ohio Statehouse to advocate for Ohio to become the 24th state nationally to abolish the death penalty.

Caruso told the Cleveland Jewish News it feels like the state is in a moment where there may be momentum to end the death penalty. Ohio hasnt had an execution since 2018, including zero under the administration of Gov. Mike DeWine after a federal judge ruled that the states current lethal injection procedure caused severe pain and needless suffering. Both the Ohio House and Senate are considering bills proposed by both Republicans and Democrats that would end the death penalty, a rare show of bipartisan support. Caruso said there are arguments against the death penalty based both in faith and in facts and statistics.

In Judaism, theres a circumspect attitude about the death penalty and whether it should be employed at all, Caruso said. Rabbis struggled with it and created circumstances where its practically impossible to use it.

He also said the death penalty needs to be abolished because we need to recognize we are human and occasionally make mistakes, and if the death penalty is used, we ultimately cannot go back on such decisions.

In terms of todays view and the view in general (of the death penalty), weve discovered there are wrongful convictions that occur at great taxpayer expense, Caruso said. Compellingly, statistics have shown that maintaining the death penalty does not reduce or deter violent crime, is definitely not cheaper than life imprisonment, and only contributes to racial disparities and racial injustice.

He also noted that according to statistics from Ohioans To Stop Executions, for every five executions Ohio has performed, one person has been exonerated. Combined, Ohio death row exonerees have served almost 216 years incarcerated for crimes they didnt commit.

Kellner told the CJN he was part of a group that lobbied the aides of Ohio Sen. Stephanie Kunze, R-Hilliard, Oct. 19. He said one of the points abolition advocates made to the aides was that there is not only a racial bias in the judicial system, as it disproportionately affects people of color. He also cited the writings of Jewish legal theorist Maimonides.

(He) said its actually better to acquit 1,000 guilty persons than to execute one innocent person, Kellner said. We might think this is a partisan issue ... but this is not just one party pushing it, its really two parties coming together to make this a possibility. ... Theres a real push from all sides of the political spectrum, push from lots of folks from the different faith communities. I think were here to make the change and become the 24th state to abolish the death penalty.

Ed Carroll is a freelance writer from Cleveland.

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Ohio rabbis among participants in Death Penalty Abolition Week - Cleveland Jewish News