Former Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry (pic­tured) and for­mer U.S. Magistrate Judge Andy Lester, who co-chaired the Oklahoma Death Penalty Review Commission in 2017, have called on state offi­cials to halt the sched­uled exe­cu­tions of 25 death-row prisoners. 

In a guest col­umn in The Oklahoman on July 24, 2022, Gov. Henry, a Democrat, and Lester, a Republican, write that ​“All Oklahomans, regard­less of one’s stance on cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment, should insist on an unwa­ver­ing com­mit­ment to fair­ness and accu­ra­cy” in death penal­ty cas­es. Instead, they say, ​“the state is bar­rel­ing ahead with an unprece­dent­ed num­ber of exe­cu­tions despite the numer­ous flaws in the imple­men­ta­tion of the death penalty.”

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