Editorial Boards, Oklahoma Conference of Churches Oppose Death Penalty Ballot Measure

The editorial boards of Oklahoma’s two major newspapers and the leadership of the Oklahoma Conference of Churches are all urging voters to vote no on State Question 776, which would enshrine the death penalty in the Oklahoma constitution and remove from state courts the power to declare the death penalty cruel and unusual punishment. The Oklahoman called SQ 776 “unnecesary,” saying it, “should be rejected by Oklahoma voters on Nov. 8.” The Tulsa World also encouraged a no vote on 776, saying, “It’s intended effect is to allow supporters of the death penalty to feel as if they have done something, even if they haven’t. But there’s a problem with such symbolic votes. The measure has no intended consequences, but the nature of unintended consequences is that they are unintended, and sometimes unpredictable.” Both editorials emphasize that the measure adds to the state constitution powers that the Legislature already has, including designating a new method of execution if the current method is ruled unconstitutional. The Oklahoma Conference of Churches joined the two editorial boards in discouraging passage of the measure. In an op-ed for the Tulsa World, the group’s executive director, Rev. Dr. William Tabbernee (pictured), drew on a recent SoonerPoll survey that found, “a majority of Oklahomans (52.5 percent) favor abolishing the death penalty, if replaced by life without parole. Only 27 percent of Oklahoma’s population remains strongly in favor of capital punishment.” He describes the recent problems with Oklahoma’s administration of the death penalty, including the use of the wrong drug in the execution of Charles Warner. In response to those problems, the Oklahoma Death Penalty Review Commission was formed to examine the capital punishment system, and is expected to release a report early in 2017. “This measure pre-empts the work of the commission and, if passed, would permit execution by virtually any means if lethal injection drugs are unavailable,” Tabbernee said. “Rather than enshrining the death penalty in the state’s Constitution now, we should let the commission finish its work and offer its recommendations on the way to proceed in the future.” In an opinion piece in the Guthrie News Leader, Republican Logan County Commissioner Marven Goodman called the ballot question “a huge step in the wrong direction,” noting that Oklahoma, while executing 112 people, has had 10 death-row exonerees. Goodman said, “as a conservative, I wouldn’t trust the government to regulate shoe laces, let alone administer a program that kills its citizens, but that’s exactly what we have.”

(Editorial, “Oklahoma voters should reject SQs 776 and 777,” The Oklahoman, October 30, 2016; Editorial, “State Question 776 accomplishes little and should be rejected,” Tulsa World, October 18, 2016; W. Tabbernee, “State Question 776 pre-empts death penalty commission’s work,” Tulsa World, November 2, 2016; M. Goodman, “County commissioner on the death penalty,” Guthrie News-Leader, October 28, 2016.) See Editorials.