The Death Penalty Information Center has released a new report on race and the death penalty in Oklahoma, placing the state’s death penalty system in historical context.
The report documents the role that race has played in Oklahoma’s death penalty and details the pervasive impact that racial discrimination continues to have in the administration of capital punishment.
Deeply Rooted: How Racial History Informs Oklahoma’s Death Penalty notes that Oklahoma is at an “inflection point” in its administration of the death penalty and argues that “if the state is to establish a fair and humane system of justice, it is crucial to acknowledge and redress the effects of Jim Crow and racial violence that persist into the present day.”
Deeply Rooted also discusses the state’s unique Native American history, with a particular focus on sovereignty and the carceral state.