The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area being used inconsistently and unequally.127 On 27 May 2014 in Ohio, the United States District Judge Gregory L. Frost ordered a temporary moratorium due to recurring problems in several recent executions128 connected to the use of a new lethal injection cocktail of midazolam, a sedative and hydromorphone, a narcotic painkiller.129 According to a survey conducted by Gallup in May 2014, among 1,028 respondents aged 18 and older interviewed across 50 states and the District of Columbia, 61 per cent of Americans found the death penalty morally acceptable.130 The result shows a one per cent decrease in respondents supporting capital punishment in comparison to a similar opinion poll conducted in May 2013.131 Another survey conducted by the Washington Post and ABC News in June 2014 found that, of 1,002 randomly selected adults from across the United States, 52 per cent preferred life sentence without parole over the death penalty for convicted murderers, while 42 per cent of respondents said that those convicted of murder should face capital punishment.132 During the reporting period, several states discussed the possibility of repealing capital punishment. On 15 September 2013, the Senate of the State of Kansas stated that it would open a parliamentary debate in 2014 on repealing the death penalty.133 In October 2013, the State of New Hampshire considered a repeal law for future offenses,134 but retained the death penalty after a tie vote (12-12) in the Senate on 17 April 2014.135 In the State of Ohio, the Commission appointed by the state’s Supreme Court to advise on revising the death penalty law released its recommendations on 10 **** The United States Mission to the OSCE did not provide a response to the 2014 ODIHR questionnaire on the death penalty. 127  “Gov. Jay Inslee announces capital punishment moratorium”, Official website of the Washington Governor Jay Inslee, 11 February 2014, <http://www.governor.wa.gov/news/releases/article.aspx?id=197>. 128  Tabak, Ronald J., “Chapter 20: Capital Punishment”, in The State of Criminal Justice 2014, American Bar Association, 2014. 129  “Ohio’s death penalty moratorium extended until next January”, Cleveland.com, 11 August 2014, <http://www. cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2014/08/ohios_execution_moratorium_ext.html>. 130 “View of Death Penalty as Morally OK Unchanged in U.S.”, Gallup, 15 May 2014, <http://www.gallup.com/ poll/169085/view-death-penalty-morally-unchanged.aspx>. 131  “In U.S., Record-High Say Gay, Lesbian Relations Morally OK”, Gallup, 20 May 2013, <http://www.gallup.com/ poll/162689/record-high-say-gay-lesbian-relations-morally.aspx>. 132  “New Low in Preference for the Death Penalty”, ABC News, 5 June 2014, <http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/ politics/2014/06/new-low-in-preference-for-the-death-penalty/> 133  “Kansas lawmakers could debate death penalty in 2014”, CJOnline, 15 September 2013, <http://cjonline.com/ news/2013-09-15/kansas-lawmakers-could-debate-death-penalty-2014>. 134  “New Hampshire Supreme Court Upholds State’s Only Death Sentence Pending Additional Review”, Death Penalty Information Center, 6 November 2013, <http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/new-hampshire-supreme-courtupholds-states-only-death-sentence-pending-additional-review.> 135  “Measure to Repeal Death Penalty Fails by a Single Vote in New Hampshire Senate”, the New York Times, 17 April 2014, <http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/18/us/in-new-hampshire-measure-to-repeal-death-penalty-fails-bya-single-vote.html?hpw&rref=us&_r=0>. 31