Until the botched execution of John Grant on October 28, 2021, the last execution in Oklahoma was in 2015. In the time since then, it has become abundantly clear that prisoners who have done awful things can be held accountable for their actions and prison staff and the public can be safe without capital punishment.

The myth that murder victim families need or deserve the execution of the person who killed their loved one in order to heal or have "closure" is false. The vast majority of cases where execution is a possible punishment result in the alternative sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole (LWOP - AKA Death In Prison). Not all of us agree with LWOP in every case, but we recognize that is the current alternative sentence in Oklahoma. When LWOP is the sentence, murder victim families can begin to heal because there will not be endless appeals or the false promise of an eventual execution. With a sentence of execution, the healing process is put on hold for decades and it may never be carried out. No amount of killing will bring back the dead.

We urge you to reverse course and introduce legislation to repeal Oklahoma's capital punishment statute. Please redirect the funds wasted trying to execute a tiny percentage of Oklahoma's convicted killers to instead provide for better prevention efforts toward stopping people on a path toward murder, and to better and more consistent supports for ALL murder victim family members.

The trend in the United States is AWAY from the death penalty. Please follow that path. Thank you.