On Monday, a Springfield Church is hosting a public forum on capital punishment reform. The event has several co-sponsors including, Amnesty International, the Ohio Council of Churches and Ohioans to Stop Executions.
The forum comes at a time as debates over capital punishment are heating up. Ohio is scheduled to execute its first inmate in more than 3 years this May. This summer the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals will also hear arguments in a case over the state’s lethal injection process and the drugs they plan on using.
Reverend Jack Sullivan Jr. is the former executive director of Murder Victims Families for Reconciliation. He hopes the forum will serve as a call to action.
“I think at some point society has to decide are we about revenge and retribution or are we about restoring families lives. And if we’re about restoring families lives, then there’s no way executions help that. They don’t. There are more creative and better ways for society to respond to horrific crimes, then the execution of those convicted for those crimes. “
The roundtable is open to the public and will be held Monday evening at 7 at Central Christian Church in Springfield. A second forum will be held Tuesday in Wilmington.
Schedule:
May 1, 7pm. Springfield
Central Christian Church
1504 Villa Rd, Springfield, OH 45503
May 2, 7pm. Wilmington
Wilmington Friends Meeting
66 N Mulberry St, Wilmington, OH 45177
May 3, 7pm. Ashland
Ashland First United Methodist Church
220 Sandusky St, Ashland, OH 44805
