Ohio delays execution as inmate seeks to donate organs

The title of this post comes from this fascinating story about a death row inmate whose execution was delayed so that he could donate organs to his mother and sister. The story is particularly interesting because of the tension between the state's interest in administering justice and the benefit to the would-be recipients of inmates' organs. Here are the details:

Ronald Phillips, 40, was set to be executed Thursday for the 1993 murder of Sheila Marie Evans – the three-year-old daughter of his girlfriend.

Ohio Governor John Kasich rescheduled the execution for July 2, 2014 to allow the time needed to determine if Phillips can donate “non-vital” organs such as a kidney prior to his execution.

"I realize this is a bit of uncharted territory for Ohio, but if another life can be saved by his willingness to donate his organs and tissues then we should allow for that to happen,” Kasich said in a statement.

Phillips had initially requested that his organs be harvested after his death by lethal injection.

His mother has kidney disease and his sister has heart problems, but he said he wanted to donate his organs to “as many people as possible.”