Oklahoma is begging the Supreme Court not to make it kill a man
The case against Richard Glossip fell apart. Even the state’s Republican attorney general says he should not be executed. The Supreme Court may not care.
The Supreme Court announced on Monday that it will hear Glossip v. Oklahoma, a long-simmering death penalty case where the state’s Republican attorney general is urging the justices not to make his state kill a man after the prosecution’s case completely fell apart.
Last May, the Court temporarily blocked Richard Glossip’s execution, after Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond informed the Court that “the State of Oklahoma recently made the difficult decision to confess error and support vacating the conviction of Richard Glossip.”
Among other things, a committee of state lawmakers commissioned a law firm to investigate whether Glossip, who was convicted for allegedly hiring a coworker to kill his boss in 1997, received a fair trial. The firm released a 343-page report laying out many errors in the process that ended in Glossip being sentenced to die:
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Not to go all “but the Nazis”…. But there was a time we hanged people for just following orders.
They absolutely can, and should, choose not to follow immoral orders. It’s the basic duty we expect of every public official.
Absolutely. I'm suggesting lawful, voted orders that people signed up for, should be followed.
For example, that lady who refused to fill out marriage licenses for gay people after she had been working for years. Like, no, you don't just get to pick and choose.
I totally understand that this is one of those "blurry line" situations where I agree that we should err on the side of "follow the job as described" specifically to avoid the situations you described. If we didn't have those standards, and it was just up to each individuals "moral compass", things would suck. However, in this particular case, where the actual life of an innocent person - and here I am going to emphasise that they are innocent in the eyes of the court as well - is on the line, I absolutely support not following through, regardless of what the supreme court decides.
To wit, I support the governor pushing back with every means they have
Actually you do, you just have to accept the potential consequences.
The correct thing for Kim Davis (the woman you mentioned) to do would have been to resign. She can refuse to perform an action she objects to, but it will and did cost her her job.
Look at Nixon and the Saturday Night Massacre. Nixon legally ordered his AG to fire the special prosecutor, he declined and resigned. Nixon ordered the next in line, he declined and resigned.
Those actions by Nixon had MAJOR political consequences and ultimately lead to his own resignation to avoid impeachment.
In this case, if the entirety of the organization resigned, it would send a clear message.