Christianity Today reported on the stay of execution that was granted in Scott Panetti’s case. The stay comes after an outcry from conservative and Evangelical political and thought leaders. The article quoted CCATDP’s Heather Beaudoin,
“This is the largest outpouring of support on a death penalty case we’ve seen from evangelicals, and you can see why, given the ridiculous nature of this case,” Heather Beaudoin, a spokesperson for Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty, told Mother Jones. “A lot of folks who signed this [clemency] letter might have given pause about signing on to a letter opposing the death penalty generally, but they think we have no business executing Scott Panetti.”
The author continued,
Scott Panetti’s execution was scheduled for today. This morning, an appeals court delayed his death with just hours to spare.
Shane Claiborne, Lynne Hybels, Joel Hunter, Sam Rodriguez, Jay Sekulow, and other conservatives and progressives signed the letter, which states that Christians are called to protect the most vulnerable and that Panetti, who has been diagnosed with schizophrenia since the 1970s and murdered his in-laws to “get rid of the devil” inside them, falls into that category.