Ohio Senator Nickie Antonio opposes death penalty execution methods in Ohio as inhumane and not a deterrent to crime.... By Clevelandurbannews.com, Ohio's Black digital news leader

Ohio Senate Minority Leader Nickie J. Antonio (D-Lakewood)

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio Senate Minority Leader Nickie J. Antonio (D-Lakewood), a Lakewood Democrat whose 23rd state legislative district includes 14 of Cleveland' 17 wards,  responded to a Spectrum News report that Ohio prosecutors are seeking to resume executions using nitrogen hypoxia.

The state senator previously introduced  Senate Bill 101 ,which  would abolish the death penalty in Ohio and leave the ultimate possible punishment  life  without the possibility of parole for capital crimes. Her measure has bipartisan support with the  joint sponsor Senator Steve Huffman (R-Tipp City),  and some one-third of the Ohio Senate coming on board as co=sponsors including Senators Blessing (R-Cincinnati), Craig (D-Columbus), DeMora (D-Columbus), Hicks-Hudson (D-Toledo), Ingram (D-Cincinnati), Lang (R-West Chester), Reynolds (R-Canal Winchester), Roegner (R-Hudson), Smith (D-Euclid), and Sykes (D-Akron).

A fighter down state and a seasoned state legislator, Antonio opposes the methods used for the death penalty in Ohio.

"Nitrogen hypoxia is untested, unproven and inhumane," said Sen. Antonio. "Even the American Veterinary Association has long rejected the use of nitrogen gas as a method to euthanize animals. There is far too much uncertainty surrounding how a state would carry out an execution by this method and no scientific evidence to support its use."

Antonio is a long term opponent of Ohio's death penalty, joining Civil Rights groups such as the NAACP in saying it is inhumane and racist, and that data show that it does not deter heinous crimes like advocates say.
 
Nitrogen hypoxia is an untested execution method in which death would be caused by forcing the inmate to breathe in only nitrogen. In 2022, Airgas, an industrial gas distributor, announced its opposition to the use of nitrogen to end human life. No state has attempted to put an inmate to death by this experimental method.
 
"We won't go back to barbaric botched executions," said Antonio. "We must be better as a society than our most heinous criminals. This is yet another example of why it is necessary to abolish the death penalty. The legislature should focus on passing Senate Bill 101, instead of suggesting grotesque experimentation."

 Senate Bill 101 now awaits further hearings in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

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