(OKLAHOMA CITY, OK, 11/29/2021) – The Oklahoma Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-OK) joins the ACLU of Oklahoma in urging Governor Stitt to reinstate the moratorium on the death penalty.
In 2015, Governor Fallin placed a moratorium on the death penalty in Oklahoma due to a series of botched executions or attempted executions that resulted in the torture of two individuals.
Since then, nothing has been done to inspire confidence Oklahoma will not continue its cruel precedence of inhumane executions. We witnessed this with the most recent execution of John Grant. Additionally, Oklahoma’s execution protocol continues to lack transparency and accountability.
A federal lawsuit set to start in February of 2022 will resolve whether Oklahoma’s three-drug execution protocol is unconstitutionally torturous. The ACLU of Oklahoma and CAIR-OK call on Governor Stitt to honor the previous agreement of no executions ahead of a decision in that federal court case.
SEE: Federal Appeals Court Reinstates Oklahoma Death-Row Prisoners to Lawsuit in Decision That May Require State to Vacate Execution Dates
https://bit.ly/3DLr0uI
SEE: Call on Governor Stitt to Stop Oklahoma Executions Sign-On Letter
https://bit.ly/30MB5to
“It is irresponsible and egregious to lift the moratorium on executions while the current process is under review for being torturous and unconstitutional,” said Government Affairs Director Lani R. Habrock. “The timing is further shocking considering our history with botched executions and that many of those scheduled for death were former litigants in the federal case. Common sense would say we at minimum should wait until after ruling on this issue.”
Five people are scheduled for execution over the next four months.
“Despite a pending federal court decision and concerns over repeating the deeply disturbing and traumatic events of the past four flawed executions, unelected Attorney General’s plans to continue to experiment on people using the same three-drug lethal injection protocol in question should give everyone deep pause,” said Tamya Cox-Touré, ACLU of Oklahoma Executive Director. “Every Oklahoman must ask themselves not whether they support the death penalty, but rather, do they trust their government with the power to kill its citizens and in such haste after the catastrophic failure of the recent past.”
CAIR-OK is a chapter of America’s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Our mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.
La misión de CAIR es mejorar la comprensión del Islam, fomentar el diálogo, proteger las libertades civiles, capacitar a los musulmanes estadounidenses, y construir coaliciones que promuevan la justicia y la comprensión mutua.
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CONTACT: CAIR-OK Government Affairs Director Lani R. Habrock, 405-532-3944, LHabrock@cair.com; CAIR-OK Executive Director Adam Soltani, 405-248-5853, asoltani@cair.com; CAIR-OK Civil Rights Director Veronica Laizure, 405-430-9877, vlaizure@cair.com