Oklahoma death penalty question faces bipartisan opposition

Oklahoma City — A proposal to ask Oklahoma voters to enshrine the death penalty in the state's nearly 100-year-old constitution sailed easily through the Legislature, but now is facing opposition from groups on opposite ends of the political spectrum.

In addition to various faith and civil rights organizations that traditionally oppose capital punishment, several conservative groups and the newly recognized Oklahoma Libertarian Party also are joining the fight against State Question 776.

"The conservative position is against the death penalty because it costs more than life (in prison), more than life without parole," said Marc Hyden, national advocacy coordinator for Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty, one of several organizations that helped kick off rallies in Oklahoma City and Tulsa opposing the question. "Beyond that ... we believe the founding fathers had the foresight to institute checks and balances, and this aims to subvert those checks and balances."

A group opposing the state question — Say No To SQ 776 — has raised about $4,000, according to its most recent report with the Oklahoma Ethics Commission. There don't appear to be any organized groups supporting the question.

The state question was sent to the voters through a resolution approved by the Legislature in 2015 following a botched execution and problems with the administration of lethal injection.

Sponsored by two pro-death penalty lawmakers, it would ensure that death sentences would not be reduced if a method of execution is ever ruled invalid and gives the Legislature the explicit power to designate any method of execution not prohibited by the U.S. Constitution. It also states that the imposition of the death penalty will not be considered cruel and unusual punishment, which is currently prohibited under the Oklahoma Constitution.

Because the language would be added to the state constitution, it would also make it more difficult for the courts or future Oklahoma legislatures to eliminate the death penalty, said Rep. Mike Christian, a former highway patrolman who authored the bill.

"It's such a serious issue, we decided to put it in the Constitution," said Christian, R-Oklahoma City. "I believe it will get overwhelming support. We thought we should put it in the constitution, just to send a message that we support it as a people."

The measure passed 80-10 in the House and 44-0 in the Senate, receiving support from Democrats and Republicans.

But since its passage, Oklahoma has continued to have problems administering lethal injections. One inmate was just moments away from his scheduled injection last year when prison officials noticed they received the wrong drug, and it was later learned a second inmate was executed in January 2015 using the same wrong drug. The blunders led to a grand jury probe, the resignations of several high-ranking state officials and a temporary moratorium on executions that is expected to last well into 2017.

"If we cannot trust our state government to fund our schools, our hospitals, fund our infrastructure, how in the world can we continue to trust them to strap someone down on a table, put a needle in their arm and fill it full of poison until they're dead," said Ryan Kiesel, executive director of the Oklahoma Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma. "We cannot continue to trust them to do that."

Sean Murphy, 
Associated Press

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Copyright The Gayly - 9/17/2016 @ 10:47 a.m. CDT.