Clemency Push Grows Ahead of Kendrick Simpson Execution

Clemency Push Grows Ahead of Kendrick Simpson Execution

With less than two weeks before a scheduled execution, a growing bipartisan group of Oklahoma lawmakers is urging mercy for death row inmate Kendrick Simpson as his clemency hearing approaches.

Lawmakers Urge Clemency for Kendrick Simpson

State Senator Nikki Nice is leading a renewed clemency push for Kendrick Simpson, calling on the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board to commute his sentence ahead of a February 12 execution date.

Simpson was convicted in 2006 in the killing of two men during a fight outside an Oklahoma City nightclub. He has maintained that the circumstances of the case, including questions surrounding intent and culpability, warrant a second look before the state carries out the death penalty.

Nice says clemency is not about overturning a conviction, but about recognizing unresolved concerns and exercising mercy when doubt exists.

Bipartisan Support Builds at the Capitol

Senator Mary Boren has joined Nice and other lawmakers in the clemency effort, signaling rare bipartisan cooperation on an issue that has long divided state leaders.

Advocates argue that Oklahoma’s capital punishment system has faced repeated scrutiny, including overturned convictions, prosecutorial misconduct findings in unrelated cases, and growing concerns about fairness and reliability in death penalty prosecutions.

The lawmakers are expected to join an anti-death-penalty advocacy group at the State Capitol on Tuesday, calling attention to Simpson’s case and urging the board to recommend a sentence commutation.

Clemency Hearing Looms as Execution Date Nears

The clemency hearing for Kendrick Simpson is scheduled for later this month, leaving the board with limited time to weigh arguments from defense attorneys, victims’ families, prosecutors, and lawmakers.

If the board recommends clemency, the final decision would rest with the governor. Without such a recommendation, Simpson remains scheduled for execution on February 12.

Oklahoma continues to rank among the nation’s most active states for executions, a fact critics say underscores the importance of careful review in capital cases.

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