Case Update: Oklahoma Board Denies Clemency for Richard Glossip

On April 26, the Oklahoma Board of Pardons and Paroles declined to recommend clemency for death-row prisoner Richard Glossip (pictured), who is scheduled to be executed on May 18, 2023. The board’s 2-2 vote constituted a denial of clemency since the governor cannot grant clemency without the board’s recommendation.

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond sent a letter to the board urging them to grant clemency for Glossip. “I am not aware of an Oklahoma Attorney General ever supporting a clemency application for a death row inmate,” Drummond wrote. “In every previous case that has come before this board, the state has maintained full confidence in the integrity of the conviction. That is simply not the case in this matter due to the material evidence that was not disclosed to the jury.” He said executing Glossip would be a “grave injustice.”