Will the Supreme Court Save Richard Glossip?
Caroline MolloyThe Supreme Court—often derided by progressives as a bastion of far-right extremists—will soon deal a devastating blow to the death penalty.
The court is scheduled to hear oral arguments in the case of Oklahoma death row inmate Richard Glossip on Wednesday, and either way they rule, their decision will rock national attitudes toward capital punishment.
If the court rules in favor of Glossip, it will be acknowledging that a grave injustice has taken place, raising questions over the guilt of anyone on death row. But if the court decides against him, and Oklahoma moves forward with his execution—even though almost every powerful Republican in the state opposes it—the call to end capital punishment in the state will only grow.
“No matter which side of the Glossip case the Supreme Court ultimately agrees with, state leaders will be forced to answer why Oklahoma has insisted on executing a man without considering new and potentially exculpatory evidence,” Brett Farley, the executive director of Catholic Conference of Oklahoma, which opposes the death penalty, told The Free Press. “It’s simply indefensible.”
