ACLU Statement on Julius Jones Commutation

OKLAHOMA CITY — Julius Jones was scheduled to be executed at 4 p.m. Thursday at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, however, announced today that he has commuted Jones' sentence to life without the possibility of parole.

The following statement is from Cassandra Stubbs, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Capital Punishment Project:

“The ACLU is celebrating the welcome news that Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt has commuted the death sentence of Julius Jones in the wake of the national outcry over his possible execution. The racism that tainted Mr. Jones’ case is a shameful and intractable feature of the death penalty’s administration in the United States. It is beyond time to end America’s failed experiment with the racist and unequal death penalty.”