~ Gov. Frank Keating, January 11, 1999
The reason I took action on March 24, 2001 and trespassed onto state property is that I feel that the death penalty is wrong. My religion says that killing is wrong: "Thou shalt not kill" (Genesis 20:13).
There are several reasons why I feel this way:
1. The death penalty does not stop people from killing.
The chart below shows that Oklahoma is #1 in death sentences in the USA but we still have a lot of murder. If the death penalty is such a good way to stop people from killing, why does Oklahoma have so much murder? The Oklahoma Legislature passed the death penalty law in 1977. That same year the United Nations said, "The main objective to be pursued in the field of capital punishment is that of progressively restricting the number of offenses." This means that the purpose of the death penalty is to stop people from killing. But it doesn't work. The killing goes on.
I'm 13 years old.
The business with Joyce Gilchrist and mistakes in the investigation of crimes and criminals tells us that mistakes happen and sometimes innocent people get put in jail and sometimes innocent people get killed by the state. With Timothy McVeigh he had the best lawyers and the most attention from the news people and every person in Oklahoma paid attention to his trial but still a mistake was made. If this can happen with a famous person who also had good lawyers, what do you think happens with poor people that nobody knows who do not have a good lawyer?
4. The death penalty is wrong and is against our religion.
In the past our forefathers may have thought that the death penalty was a good thing for our country and our state because the Old Testament said "An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth." But most Oklahomans today say they are Christians and Christ brought us a new law. "Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with his finger. But when they continued asking him, he straightened up and said to them, "Let the one among you who is without sin throw a stone at her." (John 8:6-7).
Jesus also said, "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us" (Matthew 6:12). To me, this means that we should not have death penalties. We should forgive people. We should lock up people who commit murder and we can punish them, but if the state says killing is wrong, then why does the state kill people? Sometimes I wonder how the people who execute other people can sleep at night or even sit down and eat with their families. They are killers, too but nobody kills them. The state is sending the message that it is okay to kill, which it is NOT.
I feel so strongly about what I did that if myself dying would stop all of this, then I would happily die. That is why I committed a crime on March 24, 2001 and crossed the line, to tell the people of Oklahoma that killing is WRONG. I want Oklahoma's legacy to be a legacy of peace, not of violence.
| Oklahoma Death Penalty Statistics | Overall Ranking | Ranking per Capita |
| Population 1995 | 27th | -- |
| Income 1999 | -- | 44th |
| Prisoner incarceration 2000 | 18th | 3rd |
| Executions since 1977 | 5th | 4th |
| Executions since 1998 | 3rd | 1st |
| Death row population 2001 | 9th | 3rd |
| Death sentences 1973-1999 | 8th | 1st |
| Ratio of death sentences to murders, 1972-1999 | 1st | -- |
| Cases of condemned prisoners later found to be innocent | 3rd | -- |
"Old Habits Die Hard: A new report on the death penalty in Oklahoma," 4/26/01
MORATORIUM NOW!
Sometimes people have to do things, even if they are against the law, or unpopular, or other people get angry. Right is right and wrong is wrong.
I did it because it had to be done.