Implementing policies in the State of Ohio
Same-Sex Union
The State of Ohio in the US does not support gay marriages and is banned there. By a majority of 62% votes, same-sex marriages were banned in Ohio in the year 2004. But over the years there has been a paradigm shift as more residents of Ohio are supporting same sex marriages.
A coalition named The Freedom to Marry are working towards this legalizing same-sex marriages and are hence collecting signatures of 385,253 registered Ohio voters to pass this policy. One of the aspects working in favor of same-sex marriage is the support of the President Obama who has shown a positive support for gay and lesbian marriages. But the local political environment in Ohio does not seem much conducive towards this issue and the matter has stirred quite a round of discrete discussions in the legislative. Another major obstruction is the religious views of the residents, as Christians are strongly against same-sex marriage as the Bible is strictly against such marriages. Passing of a referendum allowing union not just between a woman and a man but between any genders though is a far cry, can be made possible in the changing times.
Death-Penalty
The Ohio justice system has included capital punishment in its structure since the formation of the punishment laws. Before these executions were conducted as public hanging but in the year 1885, a legislative law was formed which required executions to be carried out at the Ohio Penitentiary, Columbus. Over the years many new laws were passed regarding the method of execution.
Recently there has been much furor over the death penalty law as the Ohio government faces much criticism not only from the human rights but even citizens are opposed to such kind of a punishment. It has been established that the Ohio state’s death penalty procedures are haphazard and thus Federal Judge; Gregory Frost had delayed execution of many inmates on the death row, asking the Ohio government to review their death penalty procedures. Over the years, even after being revoked many times, the death penalty law is yet prevalent in Ohio which will take some serious efforts by the opposition to overthrow this system.
Reference:
1. Todd J. (2012). Politics and Same-Sex Marriage in Ohio. 14 June 2012. Retrieved from http://www.examiner.com/article/politics-and-same-sex-marriage-ohio
2. Prison Policy Initiative (2012). Resolution supporting a moratorium on the death penalty. 14 June 2012. Retrieved from web. http://www.prisonpolicy.org/articles/moratorium041104.html
