Hoping for Mercy

Update — On March 10, two days before Sonny Burton’s scheduled execution, Governor Ivey commuted his death sentence to life in prision without the option for parole.

I cannot proceed in good conscience with the execution of Mr. Burton under such disparate circumstances. I believe it would be unjust for one participant in this crime to be executed while the participant who pulled the trigger was not. — Governor Ivey

Thank you, Governor Ivey.

Original Post — 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.

Another Alabama Execution

The next execution in Alabama is scheduled for January 25, when the state plans to execute Kenneth Smith. If carried out, the execution will be the first in the United States to use nitrogen hypoxia.

Smith confessed to the 1988 murder of Elizabeth Sennett and was duly convicted of the crime. Yet his death sentence warrants commutation for reasons beyond philosophical opposition to the death penalty, as advocated in my email to Governor Kay Ivey.

Governor Ivey,

Please commute the death sentence of Kenneth Smith to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

While Mr. Smith confessed and was duly convicted of the murder of Elizabeth Sennett, a jury of his peers recommended a life sentence, 11 to 1. The judge for the case disregarded the jury’s wishes and imposed the death penalty. The use of judicial override has since been repealed by the Alabama legislature, although this grace was not extended to Mr. Smith.

This is not justice and calls for your intervention.

Former Alabama governors Robert Bentley and Don Siegelman, from both political parties, have urged an end to executions where the jury was not unanimous or the judge overruled the jury’s recommendation.

Grace for Mr. Smith is further compelled by the state’s failed attempt to execute him in 2022, now compounded by the planned use of nitrogen hypoxia for this next attempt on January 25. As you well know, Mr. Smith would be the first prisoner in the U.S. to be executed using nitrogen hypoxia, an experimental and unproven procedure that is clearly unusual and arguably cruel.

Commuting Mr. Smith’s death sentence to life would be a tangible application of God’s grace: honoring Elizabeth Sennett and her family while ensuring a just and fair punishment for Kenneth Smith.

Respectfully,

Alabama Governor Stops Executions, Orders “Top-to-Bottom” Review

On Monday, November 21, Alabama Governor Kay Ivey stopped the Department of Corrections from executing prisoners on death row, ordering a “top-to-bottom review of the state’s execution process.” Her action followed two recent executions called off because of problems administering the lethal drugs. These two were preceded by an execution in July that took three hours before Joe Nathan James Jr. was “successfully” killed.

The press release announcing the governor’s action quoted her saying,

“For the sake of the victims and their families, we’ve got to get this right.”

That begs the question: how about the prisoners being executed? Do they deserve a “humane” execution, assuming that’s possible?

Responding to the news of the order, I submitted the following to the governor’s website:

Governor Ivey,

Thank you for stopping prisoner executions in Alabama and ordering a “top-to-bottom review of the state’s execution process.” The recent attempted executions of Alan Eugene Miller and Kenneth Eugene Smith following the prolonged execution of Joe Nathan James Jr. reveal a systemic failure with Alabama’s process.

To ensure the integrity of the review and its findings, I urge you to appoint the “reviewers” to be independent of the Department of Corrections. Otherwise, you’re asking the fox to count the chickens in the coop; a few will no doubt disappear.

One additional point: your statement “I don’t buy for a second the narrative being pushed by activists that these issues are the fault of the folks at Corrections or anyone in law enforcement” is nonsensical. Isn’t the execution process defined and controlled by the Department of Corrections? Aren’t department staff solely responsible for the procedure and, therefore, accountable for its integrity? Please don’t stir the political coals.

Without excusing the crimes and the injustice to the victims and their families, those sentenced to die are humans with souls. They deserve the most humane execution Alabama can carry out. Otherwise, the state becomes an instrument of revenge rather than justice.

---

The governor’s order comes admidst earlier lawsuits and investigations from the U.S. Department of Justice, contending the conditions at Alabama’s prisons are unconstitutional because they don’t provide safe and sanitary conditions — safe from other prisoners and prison staff.

Sources and More Info

al.com, Gov. Kay Ivey orders moratorium on executions in Alabama

al.com, Alabama halts executions pending review; expert says investigation ‘needs to be independent’

Elizabeth Bruenig, The Atlantic, Dead to Rights

WAAY, DOJ targets Alabama in new investigation into prison conditions, critical staffing shortages