This issue is deeply personal to me, as I believe that every life holds value. There are countless individuals who have been sentenced or are currently being sentenced to death, a fate that could be replaced with life imprisonment depending on the circumstances of their case. The death penalty is akin to premeditated murder - a state-sanctioned act witnessed by many, yet unable to be stopped.

The death penalty does not only rob individuals of their lives but also robs us as a society of our humanity. It forces us into the role of executioners and makes us complicit in an act that many consider morally reprehensible. According to Amnesty International, 106 countries have abolished the death penalty for all crimes and more than two-thirds are abolitionist in law or practice.

Individuals such as Rodney Reed, Brandon Bernard, Julius Jones, and Kenneth Foster Jr. are all black males who were sentenced to death by white judges at a young age. By taking a deeper look into the entirety of their cases, there is much evidence pointing to their innocence or better yet, that they were harshly sentenced and did not deserve the death penalty, rather life in prison.

• Rodney Reed was charged with the murder of Stacey Stites in 1996 and was convicted of capital murder on March 29, 1998 and received the death penalty. While conducting a DNA test from Stites body, the trial courts found DNA evidence matching Reed's DNA of sperm inside of Stites body. Stites was in a serious relationship with a man by the name of Jimmy Fennell, and had an affair with Reed. Fennell was never look at as a possible suspect for the rape and murder of Stites. To this day, Reed’s legal defense team has been requesting that the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals review all of the evidence from the entirety of Reed's case and conduct another DNA test to make a proper determination as to what, if any, sentence is appropriate for Reed.
• Brandon Bernard was charged with robbery, kidnapping, and murder of Todd Bagley and Stacie Bagley in 1999 and was convicted on June 13, 2000 and received the death penalty by an all white jury. In this matter, Bernard took part in the crime, however states he did not know that the bodies were in the trunk of the vehicle when the vehicle was set on fire. Bernard’s legal defense team fought to have Bernard serve his sentence out in prison without the possibility of parole to still be able to have visits with his family from inside prison. Sadly, Brandon was executed on December 10, 2020 by lethal injection.
• Julius Jones was charged with First Degree Murder for the murder of Paul Howell in 1999 and was convicted on April 19, 2002 and received the death penalty by an all white jury. Jones' case caught the attention of many throughout the nation such as athletes, celebrities and law makers, due to the facts in his case relating to his innocence. Governor Stitt commuted Jones sentence by granting his clemency hours prior to his execution to life without the possibility of parole. Individuals all around the world are still petitioning for the state of Oklahoma to release Jones from prison due to the evidence in his case pointing to his innocence.
• Kenneth Foster Jr. was involved in a fatal shooting in 1996 and was convicted of capital murder in the state of Texas and was sentenced to death in 1997. In this case, Kenneth’s friend, Mauricio Brown who was with Kenneth the night of the shooting, was the individual who shot and killed Michael LaHood. Despite this important factor in the case, the jury found Kenneth to be just as guilty as Mauricio and sentenced Kenneth to death. Mauricio was executed by lethal injection on July 19, 2006, while Kenneth’s sentence was commuted by the governor of Texas at the time, Rick Perry on August 30, 2007. With Kenneth’s sentence having been commuted, he was given a life sentence with the possibility of parole after serving 40 years. Kenneth's grandfather was his primary caregiver since he was a child, and was deeply saddened by the situation, but kept his faith knowing that Kenneth would soon be released. Sadly, Kenneth's grandfather passed away in 2022 and was not able to see Kenneth prior to his passing.

Aside from the individuals that I discussed above, there are still many individuals currently sitting on death row who were unfairly sentenced or wrongfully sentenced and are waiting to be executed, and this has to change. We need to urge our lawmakers and the president of our country to abolish the death penalty and seek out alternatives when determining an appropriate sentence for individuals who commit heinous crimes.

In addition, there's evidence suggesting that capital punishment does not deter crime more effectively than other punishments. A report from the National Research Council concluded that studies claiming a deterrent effect on murder rates from the death penalty are fundamentally flawed.

From a cost perspective, to try a death penalty case and house a death row inmate is substantial versus imprisoning an individual for a life term with or without the possibility of parole. The average offender is on death row for at least 13 years, and if you think about how many people in our country are on death row, that is a lot of money for a lot of incarcerated people. When an individual has been sentenced to death, they are not being executed immediately, rather there is a waiting period that takes place prior to a scheduled execution. As you can imagine, being given an execution date is the saddest and scariest thing to experience, being that they are told what day they will be put to death by the state.

Currently, there are 27 states that still have the death penalty as a sentencing option and there are 23 states that have done away with the death penalty. Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming are all states that currently have the death penalty as a sentencing option. Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin are all states that have abolished the death penalty as a sentencing option.

We must strive for justice and accountability without resorting to such irreversible measures as capital punishment. Let's humanize rather than demonize those on death row by abolishing this cruel practice once and for all in our country.

Please sign this petition if you believe it's time we end this outdated form of punishment in favor of more humane alternatives.