A new Ohio bill would increase penalties for politically motivated crimes, including giving prosecutors the ability to seek the death penalty in homicide cases. The political assassination of former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman hit home for Ohio state Rep. Jack Daniels (R-New Franklin). “This is a bipartisan look at this subject… political violence is a danger to our society and it’s a danger to our democracy,” he said. “Our goal is just to give the judicial system all the flexibility it can to give the maximum penalty,” Daniels said. Political violence destroys the bedrock upon which that freedom of expression is built,” the statement continued.