On Jan. 12, I peacefully stood next to the gurney while the State of Oklahoma killed Scott Eizember. I didn’t arrive at that place of ministry easily. In fact, the Department of Corrections was determined to make sure that I wasn’t allowed to be there.
Undeterred, fellow activists (and lawyer allies) and I launched a campaign to force them to back down. It was our desire to create as much stress as possible.
From incessant phone calls to media interviews to a federal lawsuit to creating political pressure along with a whole host of other actions, we did. In addition, DOC was forced to create all sorts of special circumstances to mitigate the perceived threat that they erroneously thought I was.
More directly, they had to save face. Such posturing created more stress on them.
Shortly before he was executed, I told (Eizember) that our work would help all the other guys on death row. I know he took great satisfaction in that truth.
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Honestly, I had no idea how right such a statement would be.
Recently, Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond filed a motion seeking to delay upcoming executions particularly citing stress from the last execution. In short, we fought back and now the guys on death row have more time.
For your information, more nonviolent stress is coming, and we don’t intend to quit until all executions in Oklahoma are brought to an end.
Editor's Note: Drummond filed a motion on Jan. 18 with the Court of Criminal Appeals to reschedule executions so they are 60 days apart rather than about 30 days apart. Eizember was convicted and sentenced to death for the 2003 killings of an elder Depew couple, A.J. and Patsy Cantrell.
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