The complicated history of the death penalty rages on in Oklahoma

LAWTON, Okla. (KSWO) - The Oklahoma House Judiciary Committee recently held a hearing on whether Oklahoma lawmakers should enact a moratorium on the death penalty in the next legislative cycle. KSWO spoke with those leading the charge for another moratorium and also two individual state representatives for their thoughts on the death penalty and the prospect of another halting of executions within the state.

This particular committee hearing comes after recent news cycles saw Oklahoma in the national spotlight for two separate death penalty stories.

The first story saw Glynn Simmons, who spent 48 years in prison for a murder conviction, freed from death row after evidence resurfaced that exonerated him. Simmons always maintained his innocence.

The second saw Anthony Sanchez, 44, be put to death in Oklahoma after being convicted of the 1996 killing of a University of Oklahoma student. He is the ninth person put to death in the state since executions resumed in 2021. While the state certainly believed in Sanchez’s guilty verdict, many questioned it.

Sanchez was convicted on DNA evidence, but some have actually questioned whether or not the DNA actually belonged to his father.

While whether Sanchez committed the crime or not is still being argued by armchair detectives, there are currently more than 40 individuals sitting on Oklahoma’s death row, and some are still claiming their innocence.

The idea that an innocent person is sitting on death row is not an uncommon one.

Since 1973, at least 190 people have been exonerated from death row and a study estimates that at least 4% of those sentenced to death are innocent. Even today in Oklahoma, some people on death row are working to get off of it and groups like the Innocence Project are trying to help them.

The potential innocence of Oklahoma death row inmates aside, Oklahoma’s death penalty practice has received loads of legal roadblocks in recent years.

Oklahoma entered into a six-year moratorium on the death penalty after a botched lethal injection took place in 2014.

However, that moratorium ended in October 2021. Since then, 10 Oklahoma inmates have been put to death, with more awaiting their execution dates.

Brett Farley is the state coordinator for the group called, “Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty.” The group was present during the interim study hearing that took place at the Oklahoma Capitol.

Farley believes there are many reasons why a moratorium should take place and ultimately an outlawing of the death penalty in Oklahoma. One of those reasons is an innocent life possibly getting put to death for a crime they did not commit.

“We call ourselves Conservatives Concerned about the Death Penalty because it’s more palatable, but ultimately we are opposed because we recognize human nature is what it is. You cannot remove bias. That’s why we advocate for life in prison for the most heinous crimes for a couple reason,” Farley said. “Number one, we don’t wanna execute innocent people, but number two, you give someone an opportunity to take lots of time to really wrestle with what they’ve done and to come to terms with it. And ultimately, as a Catholic Christian, to have some opportunity for redemption.”

During the conversation, Farley mentioned the 2017 Commissioner report on the Oklahoma Death Penalty. In that report, the commission unanimously recommended an extension of the then-moratorium. The report stated that they believe it is undeniable that innocent people have been sentenced to death in the Sooner State.

“We like to pride ourselves here in Oklahoma as a state that is a just state, a state that has a fair system of trial and if we can’t guarantee that system then we ought to step back and figure out what is wrong with it,” Farley said. “Again, the review commission identified over 40 problems with it. Some of these are not difficult problems to solve, but these concerns have not been addressed by state leaders. And again, this was back in 2017 when they issued nearly a 300 page report identifying these problems. So, we have to hit the pause button and figure out how do we solve these problems.”

Farley discussed how, if we lived in a perfect world, he could see the death penalty being an option within a just justice system. However, to him, we do not live in a perfect world, but one where human bias is imbedded into the justice system.

“Its hard to remove human bias from the system, racial bias and otherwise,” Farley said. “As much as we like to think of ourselves as colorblind, the statistics are very clear. Folks of minority status are much more likely to receive the death penalty than folks of majority status. That is just blatantly clear in the statistics. Until we can remove human bias and human error from the system, we are gonna have these problems. And that is the question: can we remove human error from the system? I don’t think that we can.”

One of the last points Farley made was the cost of putting an inmate to death versus the cost of keeping them in prison for life.

“The cost factor is also something to be concerned with. In some states it’s as much as 10x more expensive to put someone to death than it is to put them in prison for life. It is certainly more expensive here in Oklahoma, that has been demonstrated,” Farley said.

The studies do in fact show the cost disparities as highlighted by Farley. The same commissioner’s report mentioned above found on average that Oklahoma capital cases cost roughly 3.2 times more than non-capital cases.

Daniel Pae, Republican Oklahoma State Representative for District 62, agrees with Farley that a moratorium on the death penalty might be needed in the state. Pae represents the western parts of Lawton and aims to take a more nuanced view of the justice system.

“When it comes to the criminal justice system, the two sides have always been you either are soft on crime or you are tough on crime. I think there is a third viable option that you can be smart on crime. When it comes to the death penalty, evidence suggests that it’s not a fiscally responsible option.

Pae directly mentioned some high profile cases that have been highlighted in the media due to doubt over their guiltiness as another reason why it might be correct to look into the death penalty being used inside Oklahoma’s borders.

“Moreover, there are always concerns about if someone is given the sentence, is the evidence incontrovertible? And we saw in Oklahoma recently with the Julius Jones case and the Richard Glossip case whenever there is doubt in place we should reconsider.”

The District 62 representative also hit on the notion of being pro-life as one reason he is skeptical of the death penalty.

“If we are going to be pro-life, which is what I identify as, then that means pro life. You have to be consistent in policies relating to the beginning of life and the end of life. So that’s why I think with the death penalty issue public opinion has been shifting to a more nuanced position. Representative Kevin McDugle has been a leader on this issue along with Representative Mark Lepak and Representative Preston Stinson. All of them are fairly conservative Republicans, but they understand you have to be consistent if you want to identify as pro-life.”

Pae commented that he would be willing to consider voting in favor of another moratorium on the death penalty if Representative McDugle, another Republican in the Oklahoma House, puts up a bill asking for just that.

However, and obviously, not all Republicans completely agree with these sentiments, including Oklahoma House District 63 Representative Trey Caldwell. Caldwell represents western Comanche County along with Tillman and Cotton Counties. He believes the death penalty is a useful instrument within the state’s justice system.

“I think the death penalty, before we invoke it ever, before the State starts taking lives, it needs to have a higher burden beyond all reasonable doubt,” Caldwell said. “And make sure everybody has every available appeal to make sure we are not having a misuse of justice. But at the end of the day, I think for certain heinous crimes that are premeditated, I do think it [death penalty] acts as a deterrent and a form of justice.”

While an innocent person being put to death for a crime they didn’t commit is something Caldwell doesn’t want to see ever, he believes our justice system is at a point now where we do not have to worry as much about that.

He also stated that he will do everything within his power as a state representative to make sure the death penalty stays in place in Oklahoma for heinous and premeditated crimes.

“You never want to hear of an instance where there maybe some level of minuscule doubt, but even in the cases where, for instance, the gentleman that got commuted by the governor that even within 99.9% certainty that the guy murdered that guy in Edmond, even though there is a little bit of doubt in the governor’s mind, I guess that’s why he commuted him,” Caldwell said. “So I think at that point there’s a reason that society has deemed that punishment is necessary and the people, us as a society, definitely want to make sure, at least with me in my legislative capacity, want to make sure that stays available for these heinous and premeditated crimes that we know beyond a reasonable doubt that person committed.”

With yet another possible moratorium on the docket, it’s quite clear that Oklahoma has had a long complicated history with the death penalty, and that doesn’t seem to be stopping anytime soon.

History of the Death Penalty in Oklahoma

The death penalty has been an option for the land which is now known as Oklahoma since Congress made the criminal laws of the United States applicable to the lands that were gained under the Louisiana Purchase.

During this time of non-statehood, Oklahoma, known then as, “Indian Territory,” had their capital cases tried within federal courts in three different states - Texas, Kansas, and Arkansas.

However, in 1896, an Oklahoma court, still then known as Indian Territory, received jurisdiction over capital cases located in their borders. A total of 10 individuals, 9 men, and one woman, were hanged for their supposed crimes.

Oklahoma received statehood in 1907, and from 1907-1915, hanging was the popular method of execution in the state. It is believed that six people were hanged during this eight year span, the first eight years of Oklahoma’s statehood.

A lot of people say this number would have been higher if it was not for Oklahoma’s anti-death penalty Governor at the time, Lee Cruce. He served as Oklahoma’s second Governor from 1911-1915. Only one person is said to have been put to death under his four-year-governorship.

However, Cruce’s successor was not of the same anti-death penalty belief. Robert L. Williams was Oklahoma’s Governor from 1915 to 1919, and oversaw the first execution by way of electrocution in the state.

Up until 1930, all those put to death in Oklahoma were convicted of homicide. However, 1930 was the first year Oklahoma put someone to death for rape. After that execution, some individuals in the state were put to death after being convicted of kidnapping and even robbery with firearms.

During this time in the state’s history, as many as three people were put to death on the same day.

However, In 1972, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the case of Furman v. Georgia, that the death penalty is unconstitutional as a violation of the Eighth Amendment when it is applied in an arbitrary or discriminatory manner.

This one ruling nullified the death sentences that were set to be carried out, and for a four-year period, stopped executions in the state. However, this ruling allowed for another case four years later to resurrect the death penalty in America, and thus, in Oklahoma.

Then-Oklahoma Governor David Boren called for a special legislative session in the summer of 1976 to officially restore the death penalty in the state. And that they did. The Oklahoma Senate voted 45 to 1, and the Oklahoma House voted 93 to 5, in favor of restoring the death penalty in Oklahoma.

While many questioned the legality of the death penalty, it didn’t start to truly come under fire in Oklahoma until the botched execution of Clayton Lockett.

During the April 29, 2014 execution, Lockett groaned on the gurney when he was ejected with the sedative midazolam. This was used the first time this specific sedative was used during an execution. After this incident, inmates sued the state claiming that it is unconstitutional for Oklahoma to use these sorts of drugs for execution purposes.

However, despite the uproar and lawsuits, a federal judge declared Oklahoma’s practice of the death penalty to be constitutional in December of 2014.

Just one month later in January of 2015, Oklahoma executed another inmate who, upon being injected with midazolam, said that his body was on fire.

Then on April 18, 2015, Governor Fallon signed a bill into law that made Oklahoma the very first state to approve the use of nitrogen gas for execution purposes. The U.S. Supreme Court then upheld the state’s use of midazolam as constitutional.

A couple of months later in September, when the Oklahoma Department of Corrections received potassium acetate instead of potassium chloride to execute Richard Glossip, Fallin issued a stay and then Attorney General Scott Pruitt requested an indefinite hold on all Oklahoma executions.

After inquiries into the state’s execution practices were conducted, a bipartisan commission recommended that Oklahoma should extend its moratorium in early 2017.

In the short years after that recommendation, Oklahoma announced they are developing another method to execute inmates - nitrogen gas, and that they are set to begin executions once more.

Then on Oct. 28, 2021, the state of Oklahoma put John Marion Grant to death by way of lethal injection.

From 1915 to 2022, 201 men and three woman have been put to death at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary.

There are currently 37 individuals on death row in Oklahoma.

Even if the Oklahoma legislature approves of a moratorium on the death penalty during the 2024 legislative cycle, it is clear the debate on whether or not Oklahoma should have the death penalty within its legal system is far from over.