Gov. John Kasich and Attorney General Mike DeWine are turning to the high court in part because of a plea from the Trumbull County prosecutor, who says US District Judge Gregory Frost has wrongly gotten involved in executions. Kasich says while he's not ignoring the judge's ruling delaying this week's execution of Charles Lorraine of Youngstown, he's confident that the process of putting inmates to death is fair.
"There's an appeal going to happen, just on that issue, about equal protection. But that is in no way, shape or form designed to minimize the need to respect the judge's decision. So we'll have to work on it."
Judge Frost blasted the state for not following its own rules, saying he felt he'd had to micromanage the death penalty process. The state made some changes after opinions from Frost last year.
