I hope not. But I'm afraid we have. Legal executions seem to have been forgotten by those not waiting for victim justice. Recently, however, Lately, a few stories on the subject have shared headlines.
First, a Pottawatomie County jury recently recommended the death sentence for a man convicted of killing Tecumseh police officer Justin Terney. Only 22 years old, Officer Terney was gunned down with no mercy by a "non-violent" offender who did not want to go to jail on the stolen property charge he was wanted for.
Next, the U. S. Supreme Court rejected the death penalty appeal of Carlos Cuesta-Rodriguez who killed Olimpia Cardina Fisher by shooting her twice, once in each eye, in 2003. Seventeen years ago, Olimpia was illegally put to death in a horrible, cruel and unusual way. Her killer still waits for a humane execution.
Finally, Representative Jason Dunnington has filed House Bill 2876, which if passed, would remove the death penalty as an option for sentencing in capital cases. Representative Dunnington detailed four primary objections to the continued use of the death penalty, one being "There is no evidence to support that the use of the death penalty is an effective crime deterrent." In what instances IS a sentence ordered that proves to be an effective crime deterrent? "Deterrent" may be a part of any legal sentence, but punishment is definitely another, the most important part in my view. Look at the crimes of the 46 men and woman in limbo on death row in Oklahoma. You can bet the victims and survivors of these 46 are not in limbo. They received their unjust punishment when loved ones were ripped from their lives at the hands of those legally sentenced to humanely die.
Yet, there has not been a sentence of death carried out at OSP since 2015. Why? Does Oklahoma have a moratorium on the death penalty? Two years ago, I was told specifically by the Attorney General that there is not. So, what is the hold-up? Previous Governor Mary Fallin said in 2015 that until the state has "complete confidence in the system" she would delay any executions, and she did. We now have a new governor, but no progress on legal executions. And apparently there is no interest in resuming executions, only in ending them. There are 25 death row inmates eligible for an execution date, meaning their appeals have been exhausted. The average number of days on death row since the death penalty was reinstated in 1990 is 4,526. That is ridiculous.
The excuses, finger-pointing, and reasoning goes around and around, back and forth between all the government stakeholders. Meanwhile, the most important stakeholders are left twisting in the wind, waiting and wondering and hoping that one day, victim justice will truly equal criminal justice.
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