Hey, Texas: Please Don't Execute an Innocent Man

Targeting: Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles

Started by: Matt Kelley

NOTE: This action has expired because the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles decided not to recommend a reprieve for Skinner. To sign a petition urging Gov. Rick Perry to grant a pardon, click here.

Hank Skinner is scheduled to be executed in Texas on March 24 for three murders he maintains he didn't commit. Several key pieces of biological evidence from the crime scene have not been tested. DNA testing could prove Skinner's innocence or confirm his guilt, but prosecutors are opposing Skinner's appeals and seeking to execute him.

Send a letter below to the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles urging them to grant Skinner's clemency petition so DNA testing can be conducted.

Photo Credit: Texas Tribune

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Petition Text

Don't Execute an Innocent Man

Greetings,

Hank Skinner is scheduled to be executed in Texas on March 24, and I'm writing to urge you to recommend clemency in his case so he can seek the DNA testing that could prove his innocence.

Public trust in our criminal justice system relies on the honesty and fairness with which sentences are carried out. It is damaging to this public trust that Texas would go forward with an execution when scientific evidence has not been fully examined.

Skinner says he didn't commit the three murders for which he was convicted, and there are several pieces of probative biological evidence from the crime scene that haven't been tested. Among this untested evidence are hairs from one victim's hand, a rape kit, fingernail clippings and a windbreaker that could have been worn by an alternate suspect. It is crucial that this testing be conducted before Texas carries out a sentence it can't reverse.

DNA testing can prove the truth. It is not a delay tactic or a diversion -- it has the potential to confirm Skinner's guilt or prove him innocent and you would be making a grave mistake to allow Skinner to executed without first conducting DNA tests.

Thank your for your attention to this matter.

[Your name]

Signatures
Tweets

Michelle Fleming (Edinburgh, Scotland, AL)
Signed letter

May 11
Jeff Konek (Leucadia, CA)
Sent letter to Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles

Mar 25
Meredith Axon (E.Falmouth, MA)
Signed letter

Mar 23
Kalindi McAlpine (Alachua, FL)
Sent letter to Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles

Mar 23
Michal Kolman (Kozojedy u Kralovic, Czech Republic)
Sent letter to Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles

Mar 23
Ken Ewald (Spring Branch, TX)
Sent letter to Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles

Mar 23
Alex Granzin (Eugene, OR)
Signed letter

Mar 23
Dianne Yonan (Gaylord, MI)
Signed letter

Mar 23
Rachel Anne Despins (Wilmington, DE)
Sent letter to Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles

Mar 23
Tamara Struminger (Sherman Oaks, CA)
Signed letter

Mar 23
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