A man who has been put on Oklahoma’s death row for decades, has now received a date for his execution.
This means that he will have his 4th ‘last meal’ before being executed…
Scroll down for the full story.
Now, although abolished in many countries, the death penalty is still retained in some parts of the world.
These countries include China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and of course, the United States of America.
The death penalty has been a part of the U.S. justice system for centuries…
And the penalty, which is often referred to as capital punishment, has been in action since approximately 1608… Yep, it’s really that old.
But it’s not currently legal in every state.
And as the years have gone on, it’s become more and more of a controversial and taboo subject.
Many U.S. states have now abolished the death penalty for a number of reasons…
Including the risk factors of executing an innocent person, the fact it doesn’t prevent future crimes, and the fact that it is both discriminatory and can be used politically, as per Amnesty.
Organizations such as Amnesty have been fighting for decades to have the death penalty abolished entirely and they have been trying to expose and hold to account governments that continue to use the punishment.
Many find the death penalty totally barbaric.
When questioned, it’s difficult to justify the state killing its citizens.
Campaigners argued that many of those executed over the last few years were killed despite suffering from serious mental and physical illnesses…
Which should have rendered the death penalty an unconstitutional punishment.
And some states have made huge progress in this field.
History was made by Virginia being the first-ever southern state to abolish the death penalty. Other states which have abolished capital punishment include Alaska, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Delaware, New York, and Washington.
Virginia is now the twenty-third state to abolish the death penalty.
And many are hoping for other Southern states to follow suit.
But one state that is showing little signs of movement on the issue is Oklahoma…
As an execution date has been revealed for a man who has been on Oklahoma’s death row for decades.
It all started when Richard Glossip was convicted for hiring a hitman…
Justin Sneed was reportedly hired to kill Glossip’s boss, Barry Van Treese, in 1997.
But what made matters worse in the case was the fact was that Sneed testified against him…
Which led Glossip to be convicted of murder and was awarded the death sentence in 2004.
Since then, his execution dates have been set 3 times.
Glossip’s last execution date was “fixed seven years ago,” as per Meaaw.
But due to the Oklahoma’s prison facilities, officials couldn’t carry out the executions…
As reportedly, they received the “wrong mix of lethal injections” for the process.
It has also been reported that there are several in support of Glossip…
And they believe he is not guilty.
Despite having the 4th execution date fixed, the 59-year-old is apparently “innocent” in the eyes of some of his supporters…
According to ProPublica, these supporters believe that Glossip was “innocent” and even claimed that “prosecutors had ordered the destruction of vital evidence” in the 1997 murder-for-hire case which resulted in him being sentenced to death.
But there’s more…
As there has been frequent requests to reopen his case by a federal judge.
Although, an independent probe was initiated in Glossip’s conviction.
It was scarred by prosecutors for inexcusable actions…
Just recently, lawyer Stan Perry of the law firm Reed Smith, spoke about the investigation.
“Our conclusion is that no reasonable jury, hearing the complete record and the uncovered facts detailed in this report, would have convicted Richard Glossip of capital murder,” he stated.
Republican state representative and committee member Kevin McDugle also agreed and said the “investigative report confirmed, we do have an innocent man on the death row.”
“If we put Richard Glossip to death, I will fight in this state to abolish the death penalty simply because the process is not pure,” he added.
The report further probed that a federal judge had said that “unlike many cases in which the death penalty has been imposed, the evidence of petitioner’s guilt was not overwhelming.”
But the outpouring of support still hasn’t paused Glossip’s recent execution date…
As it is fixed for September 22 of this year.
However, his attorney released a statement and said Glossip has been through “3 tortuous execution dates already.”
And added “it does not serve justice” to set a 4th execution date for “an innocent man” before all this “new evidence can be fully considered in a court of law.”
“Public reaction to this new evidence makes clear that Oklahomans, even those who support the death penalty, do not want to see an innocent man executed,” he concluded.
And even an anti-death penalty activist, Helen Prejean, raised a voice for Glossip.
“I know I have to do everything I know how to do to save the life of this man. When it looks like everything is signed, sealed and delivered what do you do? You go to the public and you raise questions,” she said.
And since then Glossip has been served his last meal 3 times…
Which have included:
“Fish and chips, a Wendy’s Baconator burger and a strawberry shake,” according to reports.
What do you think?