Already second in the nation in executions, Ohio bucked a national trend last year by sending seven people to Death Row – the most since 2003, reports the Columbus Dispatch. Nationally, the number of new death sentences has leveled off or declined in recent years.
Ohio has executed 43 killers, including two this year, since resuming capital punishment in 1999. Clarence Carter is scheduled to be lethally injected next Tuesday. Seven other executions are scheduled this year, and two more have been set for early 2012. Ohio was second in the nation in executions last year, with eight to Texas’ 17. Ohio was the only state to increase its number of executions last year.