Death Sentence Stay?

Yesterday in Congress, Pope Francis advocated for global abolishment of the death penalty. I am asking Santa Barbarans to helpSister Helen Prejean right the clear inequity of Justin Sneed (the murderer) getting life in prison and Richard Glossip (who is said to have hired Sneed) getting death by requesting that the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board commute Glossip’s sentence or at the very least grant him a 60-day stay of execution.

This is why: A box of evidence seems to have been prematurely destroyed which could be exculpatory. Two men coming forward with exculpatory evidence are now being harassed and arrested by local law enforcement.

The whole world is watching this travesty. Our country and its justice system are better than this! Let’s not stand by silently and allow the 9/30/15 execution to go forward with so many unanswered questions about due diligence and without Glossip basically ever receiving a fair hearing.

The courts say the evidence could have been gathered earlier. How would those men have known who to speak with about what they knew concerning Glossip’s innocence?

Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer stated the three things he questions most about the use of the death penalty today are its (1) serious unreliability, (2) arbitrariness, and (3) delays which undermine its effectiveness as a deterrent to crime. Ultimately Justice Breyer asks if the death penalty in its current form violates the constitution. Taking these arguments into consideration, I believe the death penalty is unconstitutional!

Help make this right. Please write to the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board at contact.us@ppb.ok.gov and ask them to grant Richard E. Glossip a 60-day stay of execution so that all the evidence can come to light.