R.I.P. Clarence Carter

Roman Colosseum lit to protest an execution

On April 12, 2011, Ohio executed Clarence Carter for the 1988 killing of fellow jail inmate, Johnny Allen, during a fight.  Carter's lawyers had argued that Allen's death was not planned, that Allen was the likely instigator of the fight, and that inmates who testified as witnesses were unreliable.  The former head of the Ohio prison system had urged the Governor to grant clemency, stating that the murder most likely resulted from a jail fight that got out of hand.

This is the 12th execution in the United States in 2011, the third in Ohio.  Carter is the 8th African American to be executed this year.