On February 23rd Xavier University announced that current Ohio Supreme Court Justice and former Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters had accepted a role as "justice in residence." 

The announcement said that "as part of his role, upon mutual agreement with program leaders and faculty, Justice Deters will participate in various class sessions. He will also take part in events outside of class in academic and co-curricular programs related to his area of professional expertise."

In 2018, Deters called for Ohio to bring back the firing squad, arguing that "capital punishment "is not supposed to be a pleasant experience."

Also in 2018, Deters was publicly chastised by a Vatican official for his support for the death penalty. Deters said “My dear friends who are priests don’t understand what we’re dealing with. There is evil in this world and there comes a point where society needs to defend itself.”

In response, The Rev. Paul Mueller, vice director and superior of the Jesuit community at the Vatican Observatory, said "I am disappointed, embarrassed, and scandalized that you, not only a Catholic but also a fellow alumnus of St. Xavier High School, have used the platform of your public office to oppose and confuse the moral teaching of the Church in so open a fashion."

In response to a rise in gun violence, Deters said that “society has excused bad behavior perpetrated by bad people," and that blaming guns for gun violence is wrong. 

In 2021, Deters argued the root cause of crime and violence was parenting, saying "Parents must parent their children."

Joe Deters said that "the false narrative that police are hunting Black men in the streets hurts the Black community. The belief that we should reduce sentences of violent people because of systemic racism hurts the Black community."

Joe Deters does not represent Jesuit catholic values or teachings, and has no place at Xavier University.

We call on Xavier University to immediately suspend plans to bring on Joe Deters.