“Government ... can't be trusted to control its own bureaucrats or collect taxes equitably or fill a pothole, much less decide which of its citizens to kill.” - Sister Helen Prejean
Facts & Research
Bob Macy was ranked #2 by Harvard “Deadliest D.A.” in the Country.
“History of Misconduct in Oklahoma County
Five death-row prisoners wrongfully convicted In Oklahoma County in the 1980s and 1990s during the administration of former District Attorney “Cowboy” Bob Macy have been exonerated — the fourth most of any county in the U.S. Macy sent 54 people to death row during a 21-year tenure as District Attorney that was marked by prosecutorial misconduct.
23 of Macy’s capital convictions relied heavily on the testimony of disgraced police chemist Joyce Gilchrist, who an FBI investigation in 2001 concluded had offered testimony “that went beyond the acceptable limits of science.” An internal police investigation found that evidence in many of Gilchrist’s major cases was missing, along with three years of her blood analysis files. In the case of Curtis McCarty, Gilchrist falsely testified that hairs found at the crime scene matched McCarty’s and that his blood type matched the semen found on the victim’s body. A later investigation revealed that Gilchrist had altered her notes to implicate McCarty and that the hairs she had tested were missing. McCarty was exonerated in 2007 after independent DNA testing excluded him as a suspect. Almost half of the 23 people who were sentenced to death in trials in which Gilchrist testified were executed before their cases could be reviewed.
Current Oklahoma County death-row prisoners Julius Jones and Richard Glossip, also prosecuted during the Macy administration, face execution despite strong evidence of innocence. Glossip was sentenced to death for the 1996 murder of motel operator Barry Van Treese. No physical evidence linked Glossip to the murder, and the only evidence implicating him came from the multiple conflicting stories of the actual killer, Justin Sneed, a 19-year-old methamphetamine addict who was spared the death penalty in exchange for testifying that Glossip had offered to pay him to kill Van Treese. Jones, who has twice received recommendations for clemency by the Oklahoma Board of Pardon and Parole based on doubts as to his guilt, faces a November 18, 2021 execution date. He alleges that a combination of racial bias, poor representation, and false informant testimony led to him being sentenced to death for a crime he did not commit.” - Death Penalty Information Center
Oklahoma Stats
Oklahoma has the second highest use of the death penalty
The death penalty imposes an average of approximately $700,000 more in costs than not seeking death.
The cost for execution in Oklahoma is 1.1 million dollars.
Oklahoma has been historically 1 or 2 in incarceration globally for the past 30 years
Oklahoma incarcerates more Black Americans per capita than anywhere in the world
Oklahoma is among three states where black people constitute a disproportionate share of the death-row population relative to the state population.
In Oklahoma and Missouri, black Americans are overrepresented on death row by nearly a factor of four.
Oklahoma has the second highest incarceration rate globally
Oklahoma has high Adult Childhood Experiences Scores (ACES)
Oklahoma’s first law passed after statehood was Jim Crow
In 2022 Oklahoma was ranked 50 for the best state to be a woman.
Oklahoma ranks 41 in mental health access, has high ACES scores, and is the second highest in incarceration globally. Therefore, Oklahoma criminalizes trauma responses.
Oklahoma’s History of Incarcerating Innocent People
There have been 38 exonerations that Oklahoma lists on the National Registry of Exonerations.
Seven of those had been on death row.
The Oklahoma Innocence Project has received 1700+ requests since 2011
Julius Jones’s case was riddled with odious racial discrimination — including a police officer’s use of a racial slur during Mr. Jones’ arrest and the State’s removal of all prospective black jurors except one —evidence shows that a juror used the n-word before jury deliberations at the sentencing phase. There is a consensus among legal and community advocates that Julius Jones did not commit murder and yet he is still in prison. If it was not for the Julius Jones Coalition, Mr. Jones might have been executed in November of 2021.
