Earlier this week, I participated in two press conferences in opposition to Oklahoma’s State Question 776, which aims to circumvent Oklahoma’s Judiciary and unilaterally declare the death penalty constitutional. I was joined by many area leaders, including conservatives and libertarians, and two death row exonerees, Kwame Ajamu and Randy Steidl, also spoke.
The press conferences were covered by a host of outlets including, News on 6, Fox News 23, ABC News channel 8, NBC channel 2, Tulsa World, and the Red Dirt Report.
News on 6 reported,
A group called Think Twice Oklahoma rallied against State Question 776 in Tulsa on Wednesday. The amendment seeks to add the death penalty to Oklahoma’s state constitution, giving lawmakers the power to try out any legal method of execution that isn’t banned by the U.S. Constitution.
Opponents say that means Oklahoma could someday utilize the firing squad method, as is used in Utah.
“Really, there’s no telling what kinds of possible methods could be attempted,” said Marc Hyden of Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty, a national advocacy group. “I know there’s been talks of nitrogen gas here.”
Reporters from NBC channel 2 wrote,
“This measure, if it’s enacted, will become a fiscal boondoggle. It’s going to become very costly and Oklahomans are going to get stuck with the tab and have little, or nothing, to show for it,” said Marc Hyden with Conservatives Concerned about the Death Penalty.
A writer from the Tulsa World said,
Marc Hyden, who represents Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty, said voting “no” on the state question makes sense because the Legislature should not be allowed to unilaterally decide what is constitutional.
“I’ve had many conversations with both conservatives and Libertarians who are concerned about this measure — and for good reason,” Hyden said. “They understand what’s at risk. They see how broken and costly the death penalty has become here in Oklahoma. This measure will not limit the death penalty’s brokenness one bit. Instead, it may exacerbate underlying problems.”
And Red Dirt Report’s Heidi Brandes wrote,
Members of the anti-776 campaign called Think Twice Oklahoma said the state question not only cripples the judicial arm of government, but would cost taxpayers an inordinate amount of money to defend challenges and to carry out executions.
“I think the conservative position is against the death penalty because it costs more than life, more than life without parole, it’s not representative of a limited government and it doesn’t produce any productive benefits,” said Marc Hyden, advocacy coordinator for the National Conservatives Concerned (About the Death Penalty) organization, who spoke at the press event.
“Beyond that, I believe the conservative position would be against this state question because we believe the founding fathers had the foresight to institute checks and balances, and this aims to subvert those checks and balances. There should be three branches of government.”
Recent polls also indicate that Oklahomans are becoming wary of capital punishment with more than 53 percent of citizens favored looking twice at the death penalty, or using the death penalty only for the worst of the worst.
“Any time you are circumventing the judiciary, it’s very concerning,” said Hyden. “That’s exactly what this is doing.”