Ohio -- Since it's early days of statehood, Ohio has carried out the death penalty.  We're one of 30 states with a valid death penalty statute.

According to the Ohio department of rehabilitations and correction, 393 people have been put to death in Ohio.  But now, there's a new push to reform the practice.

Enter House Bill 81.  The legislation would spare criminals with severe mental illness from the capital punishment.  "The bill does not say that somebody shouldn't be punished for committing crime, but that the punishment should be life in prison, rather than putting them on death row."

Representative Nickie Antonio (D) who co-sponsored the bill says this shouldn't be a political party issue, it should boil down to what is humane. "Severe mental illnesses should be a mitigating factor when it comes to sentencing."

The bill is currently in committee, but sponsors hope to pass it through one, if not both chambers before the end of lame duck.  The fate of this bill will ultimately lie in the hands of the republican majority.