Published on: Wednesday, November 8, 2023
Yesterday, the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board voted 3-2 to recommend clemency for Phillip Dean Hancock, a death row inmate scheduled to be executed on November 30, 2023 (AP article here). Hancock was sentenced to death for killing two men who he has maintained he shot in self-defense after they attacked him. Two republican legislators who strongly support the death penalty testified on Hancock's behalf at the clemency hearing. Governor Kevin Stitt must now decide whether to grant Hancock clemency. To date, 20 prisoners have been executed in the United States in 2023, including 3 in Oklahoma, 4 in Missouri, 1 in Alabama, 6 in Florida, and 6 in Texas.