MEDIA ADVISORY
April 13, 2015
For Immediate Release
Contact: Abraham Bonowitz, abe@otse.org
561-371-5204
OTSE Lobby Day to Feature Six of Ohio’s Nine Death Row Survivors
COLUMBUS – Ohioans to Stop Executions (OTSE) will hold its first Lobby Day of the 131st General Assembly on Tuesday, April 14, 2015. The event will feature six of Ohio’s nine death row exonerees, all freed after having been sentenced to die for crimes they had nothing to do with. Kwame Ajamu, Joe D’Ambrosio, Ricky Jackson, Derrick Jamison, Dale Johnston and Wiley Bridgeman will speak at a 10:30am press conference in the LADIES GALLERY before leading OTSE Coalition Partners and Members as they deliver a letter and OTSE’s new annual report to the offices of the Governor, the Attorney General and each Ohio Legislator.
Assistant Minority Whip Nickie J. Antonio and OTSE Executive Director Kevin Werner will also speak at the press conference. They will be joined by other available legislators, OTSE Coalition partners and OTSE members.
The letter to be delivered will ask Ohio’s policy makers to give full consideration to the recommendations of the Supreme Court Joint Task Force on the Administration of Ohio’s Death Penalty, and offers detailed analysis in the OTSE Annual report, which was released on March 30. The report, A Crumbling Institution: Why Ohio Must Fix or End the Death Penalty, highlights a continuing trend of decline in the use of the death penalty in Ohio and points to specific Task Force recommendations as steps to be taken towards making Ohio’s death penalty system more fair and accurate. Additionally, legislators will be provided with a new document highlighting the thirteen Task Forcerecommendations which, when implemented, could help prevent wrongful convictions and/or executions.
WHO: OTSE leaders and partners, legislators, and six of the nine Ohio death row survivors
WHAT: Press Conference and presence at the Statehouse
WHEN: 10:30am, Tuesday, April 14, 2015
WHERE: The LADIES GALLERY on the first floor of the Statehouse off the South Hall
To schedule advance interviews and for further information, please contact Abe Bonowitz at 561-371-5204 or abe@otse.org