Entries tagged with “Andy Lester”
Innocence
,Sep 17, 2024
Article of Interest: Former U.S. Judge Andy Lester Calls on Oklahoma to Implement Reforms to “Badly Broken” Capital Punishment System Before Continuing Executions
“From start to finish, it is so badly broken that we cannot know whether someone who has been condemned to death is actually deserving of the ultimate penalty,” wrote former U.S. Magistrate Judge Andy Lester in a September 12, 2024 op-ed for The Oklahoman. Before carrying out any new executions, Mr. Lester calls on the state to implement new reforms to its “broken” capital punishment system. Although the Oklahoma Death Penalty Review Commission provided 45 specific recommendations and…
Policy Issues
Innocence
,United States Supreme Court
,May 07, 2024
In Amicus Briefs, Conservative Officials, Oklahoma Lawmakers, and Civil Rights Groups are United in Urging the U.S. Supreme Court to Vacate Richard Glossip’s Conviction
On April 30, 2024, a week after the parties in Glossip v. Oklahoma filed merits briefs at the United States Supreme Court, several amici filed briefs in support of the parties’ joint position, asking the Court to grant Richard Glossip (pictured) a new trial. Ken Cuccinelli, the former Virginia Attorney General and Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security under President Donald Trump, said in his brief that the consequences of failing to overturn Mr. Glossip’s conviction are “most dire.”…
Nov 29, 2023
Former U.S. Judge Andy Lester Calls for Moratorium of Oklahoma’s “Fundamentally Flawed” Capital Punishment System Until Significant Reforms are Implemented
“Commission members unanimously recommend that the current moratorium on the death penalty be extended,” said a nearly 300-page report published by the Oklahoma Death Penalty Review Commission in 2017. More than six years later, almost none of the 45 recommendations have been implemented. Former U.S. Magistrate Judge Andy Lester, one of three co-chairs of the Commission, reiterated the call for a moratorium in a November 27, 2023 letter to the editors of nondoc.com. “Whether you support…
Policy Issues
Innocence
,Oct 12, 2023
Republican-Led State Legislative Committee Considers Death Penalty Moratorium in Oklahoma
On October 5, 2023, the Oklahoma House Judiciary Criminal Committee met to discuss ongoing concerns regarding the state’s capital punishment system and the possibility of recommending a moratorium on executions. Republican Representative Kevin McDugle (pictured) called for the meeting and is a longtime supporter of the death penalty. He spoke of his increasing concern regarding the possibility of executing an innocent person, particularly citing the case of Richard Glossip, who has long…
Policy Issues
Arbitrariness
,Innocence
,Official Misconduct
,Race
,Executions Overview
,Aug 24, 2022
New DPIC Podcast: Former Governor Brad Henry and Former U.S. Magistrate Judge Andy Lester, co-Chairs of the Oklahoma Death Penalty Review Commission, Call for Halt to Executions
In the August 2022 Discussions With DPIC podcast, former Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry and former U.S. Magistrate Judge Andy Lester (pictured), two of the co-chairs of the bipartisan Oklahoma Death Penalty Review Commission, call on state officials not to rush forward with the state’s planned execution of 25 prisoners. Speaking with DPIC executive director Robert Dunham, Governor Henry, a Democrat, and Judge Lester, a Republican, discuss the…