Alabama and Texas have made industries of the death penalty, determined to use the punishment as retribution and a warning to the marginalized, particularly Black, population.
Sonny Burton’s case is quintessential. He is scheduled to be executed by Alabama on March 12. Can Governor Ivey see the injustice of executing Burton?
Governor Ivey,
Since moving to Alabama four years ago, I have been jolted by the state government fostering a Calvinist Hell under the guise of what it calls “justice.”
The case of Sonny Burton is the latest example. Franz Kafka could have written the story. Yet sadly, tragically, it’s true.
No doubt you are familiar with the facts and, I hope, see the unfairness of sentencing a man to death for a murder he did not commit — he was not in the store when the shots that killed Doug Battle were fired — and the actual murderer was resentenced to life in prison. Doug Battle’s daughter and several of the jurors in Sonny Burton’s case support clemency. Mr. Burton, now 75, has expressed remorse for his involvement in the murder and is asking to be spared the death penalty.
Micah 6:8 calls on us to bring justice and mercy to this life.
“He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”
I urge you to show mercy and grant Sonny Burton clemency.
