Former Justice Now Opposes Death Penalty

A former Ohio Supreme Court justice who mostly sided with the majority in death penalty cases says she now opposes capital punishment. Republican Evelyn Stratton left the court last year and is now an attorney in Columbus. She says she does not think the death penalty is effective. Stratton spoke Thursday to a court task force analyzing the effectiveness of Ohio's capital punishment law. She told the panel she did not have a strong overall opinion when she served on the court. Stratton says she opposed the execution of mentally ill inmates and now has concluded the death penalty does not provide sufficient deterrence for crime or closure for victims' families.