Why Oklahoma’s tough-on-crime lawmakers no longer trust death penalty
Inside the Oklahoma State Penitentiary, Phillip Hancock has eaten his final meal. Fried chicken from KFC, no sides. It’s the last day of November. He’s due to be executed at 10 a.m.
Outside the prison known as Big Mac, 11 anti-death penalty protesters in puffy coats huddle in a circle to sing a hymn. Intermittent drizzle has snuffed out the early morning sun. A pair of cars pulls up near the penitentiary, which looks like a cross between a warehouse and a castle. The latecomers to the vigil are unlikely allies: two Republicans who favor tough law and order policies.
“This is a strange scenario,” says J.J. Humphrey, a member of the Oklahoma House of Representatives. “You’ve got two people who have been advocating for the death penalty advocating for clemency here.”
His friend Justin Jackson, wearing a cowboy hat and nibbling on a toothpick, keeps checking his phone. The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board recommended clemency for Mr. Hancock. But there’s no word, yet, on whether Gov. Kevin Stitt will stay the execution. Last night, Mr. Jackson went to Oklahoma City to meet in person with the Republican governor. The businessman tried to persuade Governor Stitt, who’s a friend, that the man on death row shot two men in self-defense.
“We believe in God and guns,” says Mr. Jackson. “It sends a bad message to our state and to the rest of the nation that you’re going to be vulnerable if you stand your ground and protect your life.”
Oklahoma hasn’t executed as many people as Texas has. But it has led the United States for the highest per capita rate of executions since 1976. There’s strong residual support for capital punishment here in the buckle of the Bible Belt. In 2016, the Sooner State held a referendum on whether to amend its constitution “to guarantee the state’s power to impose capital punishment and set methods of execution.” It passed, 66% to 34%.
But trust in the system has been shaken. Mr. Jackson is single-handedly responsible for starting a crusade inside the political establishment. Thirty-four Oklahoma lawmakers – including 28 Republicans – wrote to the governor in 2021 asking him to reexamine the case of a man in prison named Richard Glossip. Last year, three GOP representatives and a former member of the Parole and Pardon Board held a press conference to advocate for a state moratorium on the death penalty. That coincided with another jolt to the system.
Last May, Oklahoma’s attorney general took the unprecedented step of filing a brief to the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of Mr. Glossip, asking the justices to halt his execution. On Jan. 22, in a rare move, the justices took Mr. Glossip’s case and will consider whether to overturn his conviction. The case will be heard this fall.
Also making headlines: Glynn Simmons became a free man in December after spending 48 years in prison. It was
