By Darla Shelden, Metropolis Sentinel Reporter
OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Dying Penalty (OK-CADP) will host its 2023 Digital Annual Awards Program on Saturday, June 5. The fundraising occasion shall be held at 5 p.m. on-line through Zoom as a result of COVID-19 pandemic. A pre-program social time will start at 4:30 p.m.
The night will characteristic keynote speaker Marc Howard, Professor of Authorities and Legislation at Georgetown College and Director of the Prisons and Justice Initiative.
Jail educator, creator, and exonerator, Howard is without doubt one of the nation’s main advocates for prison justice and jail reform. By means of the Prisons and Justice Initiative, Marc brings collectively students, practitioners, and college students to look at and fight mass incarceration.
After listening to his story of innocence, Howard visited Julius Jones on Oklahoma’s demise row in McAlester in October of 2019.
Following Howard’s journey to Oklahoma State Penitentiary, Howard posted on Fb, “Anybody who significantly examines this case realizes that Julius Jones is harmless, but the state of Oklahoma nonetheless plans to execute him. He was wrongfully convicted after a sham of a trial that had all of the traditional components: vindictive prosecutor, racist jury, mendacity witness, and incompetent trial counsel.”
Making information this week,Georgetown College, below Howard’s management, will introduce a full bachelor’s diploma program for aspiring college students incarcerated inside the Maryland state jail system.
“We’re excited to construct upon the success of the Jail Students Program and supply a chance for college kids to earn a school diploma whereas incarcerated,” mentioned Howard. .
“A level from Georgetown and the interdisciplinary coursework behind it’s going to put together our graduates to reenter their communities and the workforce with delight of their tutorial achievements.”
Based on a press launch, below Howard’s management, this system creates a transformational training expertise for extremely motivated college students throughout their incarceration. After their launch, many returning residents battle to seek out employment as a result of their prison file, a scarcity of formal training, and enormous gaps in resumes. The Jail Students Program equips them to beat these hurdles and creates a pathway to monetary stability and socioeconomic mobility.
Greater than 150 folks have participated within the Jail Students Program on the D.C. Jail, each via credit-bearing and non-credit programs.
In his most up-to-date e-book, Unusually Merciless: Prisons, Punishment, and the Actual American Exceptionalism, Howard argues that the American prison justice and jail methods are distinctive – “in a very shameful approach.”
OK-CADP chair, Rev. Don Heath acknowledged, “We’re excited to listen to Marc Howard share his insights with us concerning the state of American prisons, together with demise row, in addition to prison justice reform.”
On March 8, the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board granted a “stage two” commutation listening to to Jones, who has all the time maintained his innocence. His subsequent listening to will happen in June.
Through the June 5th occasion, OK-CADP will honor three members of the group with the group’s Abolitionist Awards.
The Phil Wahl Abolitionist of the 12 months Award shall be given to group activist Jimmy Lawson, a Rose State Faculty professor and longtime advocate who has labored tirelessly for the commutation of his finest buddy Julius Jones.
The Opio Toure Brave Advocate Award will acknowledge the service of Emma Rolls, Chief of the Capital Habeas Unit, Federal Public Defender’s Workplace for the Western District of Oklahoma.
Okay-CADP’s Lifetime Abolitionist Award will honor government board member Leslie Fitzhugh. Having served on the Oklahoma Division of Corrections for 30 years, Fitzhugh’s opposition to the demise penalty has continued via her work with the coalition. She has been an outspoken advocate for the innocence and commutation of Julius Jones, who has been on demise row for over 20 years.
Oklahoma has had a moratorium on the demise penalty since October 2015 after the fallacious drug was almost used to execute demise row prisoner Richard Glossip on September 30, 2015.
On February 13, 2023, state officers introduced that Oklahoma would resume and return to the 3-drug deadly injection protocol beforehand used within the state’s notorious botched executions of Charles Warner and Clayton Lockett.
“As Oklahoma attracts ever nearer to start setting execution dates, the coalition’s work continues,” Heath mentioned.
Thirty-one of the 47 prisoners on Oklahoma’s demise row have now exhausted all of their appeals.
To assist the coalition’s mission, particular person tickets for the OK-CADP 2023 Digital Annual Awards Program will be bought for $50, $20 for college kids. Sponsorships (8 tickets) can be found for $400.
To buy tickets on-line, go to okcadp.org. To order tickets by mail, ship checks together with every visitor’s title and e mail tackle to: OK-CADP, P.O. Field 713, Oklahoma Metropolis, OK 73101-0713.
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