Stratton Quoted in Columbus Dispatch Story Titled “Execution of Mentally Ill is Issue for Task Force”

Evelyn Lundberg Stratton, of counsel in the Vorys Columbus office who prior to joining Vorys served for 16 years as a justice on the Supreme Court of Ohio, was quoted throughout a Columbus Dispatch story about the progress of the Joint Task Force to Review the Administration of Ohio’s Death Penalty. 

The story states:

“Stratton testified at the committee’s June meeting about mental illness and the death penalty. The task force also cited Stratton’s opinion in a 2011 murder case in which she said the ‘time had come to re-examine whether we as a society should administer the death penalty to a person with a serious mental illness.’

She noted that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled against executing the mentally disabled and juveniles but has not dealt with the mentally ill.

Stratton said that ‘the line should be drawn by the General Assembly, not by a court.’ And that line would determine exactly what constitutes a ‘serious’ mental illness.”

To read the entire story, visit the Columbus Dispatch website. (Subscription may be required).