Stop the Execution of Ernest Johnson in Missouri

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Stop the Execution of Ernest Johnson in Missouri

Governor Mike Parson

Ernest Johnson is scheduled for execution in Missouri on October 5th for the 1994 murders of Mary Bratcher, Fred Jones, and Mabel Scruggs.

In the past 26 years of appeals, courts have upheld his conviction but overturned the death sentences and granted new penalty phases due to errors in presentation of evidence about Johnson’s intellectual/developmental disability. Missouri utilizes a three-part test to determine whether someone is intellectually disabled and Johnson objectively meets all three categories. The execution of a person like Ernest has been found to be unconstitutional, as directed by the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2002 decision in Atkins v. Virginia. His IQ tests reveal him to have sub-average intellectual functioning.

Just 5 minutes before his to-be execution in 2015, Johnson’s execution rapidly came to a halt when the U.S. Supreme Court asked for his case to be further reviewed by lower courts. It has since cycled up and down the court system.

Please sign the petition asking Governor Mike Parson to do everything within his power to stop this execution, including issuing a stay, and seeking a path to clemency in the case.

Petitions will be delivered on your behalf in conjunction with Missourians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty on September 29th, and subsequent signatures will be delivered October 4th.

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Death Penalty Action

To: Governor Mike Parson
From: [Your Name]

We are writing to ask that you to stop the October 5th execution of Ernest Johnson for the 1994 murders of Mary Bratcher, Fred Jones, and Mabel Scruggs.

We are concerned that while the vast majority of states with capital punishment continue on a downward trend of executions, Missouri continues to go against the trend by carrying our executions still.

Specific to the case of Ernest Johnson, attorneys have been asking for clemency due to Johnson's intellectual/developmental disability. Missouri utilizes a three-part test to determine whether someone is intellectually disabled and Johnson objectively meets all three categories. His IQ tests reveal him to have sub average intellectual functioning.

In addition to an intellectual/developmental disability, Johnson had a brain tumor, and in 2008, part of his brain was removed during surgery to remove the tumor. Scar tissue from the removal could cause him painful seizures after he is injected with pentobarbital, a seizure-inducing medication.

We, the undersigned, ask that you do everything within your power to stop this execution, including issuing a stay, and seeking a path to clemency in the case.