Oklahoma Attorney General sues to stop US’ first public religious school
United StatesAP Oklahoma’s Republican Attorney General Gentner Drummond on Friday sued to stop a state board from establishing and funding what would be the nation’s first religious public charter school after the board ignored Drummond’s warning that it would violate both the state and US constitutions. Drummond filed the lawsuit with the Oklahoma Supreme Court […]
Oklahoma school board approves what would be the first taxpayer-funded religious school in US
Oklahoma City, USAP A state school board in the US state of Oklahoma voted on Monday to approve what would be the first publicly funded religious school in the nation, despite a warning from the state’s Attorney General that the decision was unconstitutional. The Statewide Virtual Charter School Board voted three-to-two to approve the application […]
Faith leaders urge independent review of Alabama executions
Montgomery, Alabama, US AP More than 170 pastors and other faith leaders on Tuesday urged Alabama Governor Kay Ivey to authorise an independent review of execution procedures, as Oklahoma and Tennessee did after a series of failed lethal injections in those states. The group applauded Ivey for taking the “bold and necessary step” of ordering a review of Alabama […]
Lifestory: Working at the “intersection of “faith and social justice”, Rev Cece Jones-Davis on the campaign that helped get Julius Jones off death row
ADELLE M BANKS, of Religion News Service, speaks with US minister Rev Cece Jones-Davis about her work in advocating for and supporting Julius Jones, a former death-row inmate whose sentenced was commuted to life last November…
Essay: Buddy Stouffer’s execution was the last in the US for 2021. Will it be the last to be proved an error?
Activist, author and co-director of Red Letter Christians, SHANE CLAIBORNE, in an article first published on Religion News Service, says that “one of the obvious problems with the death penalty is that you can’t bring someone back from the dead when you get it wrong”…
Essay: Julius Jones was spared by a governor who prayed. Let’s all now pray to end the death penalty.
Celebrating the commutation of Julius Jones’ death sentence in Oklahoma, US, last week, Christian anti-death penalty activist SHANE CLAIBORNE says the fight for Jones’ freedom – and abolition of the death penalty – goes on…
US faith leaders backing Oklahoma death row inmate hail parole board’s commutation request
RNS In a decision hailed by religious leaders who have taken up his cause, an Oklahoma parole board voted to recommend commutation of the death sentence of Julius Jones, who has been on death row for two decades. Rev Cece Jones-Davis, the Justice for Julius campaign director, said she viewed the recommendation Monday of “life […]
“Racial healing”: 100 years later, Black church leaders seek reparations for Tulsa massacre
ADELLE M BANKS, in an article first published on Religion News Service, reports on the ongoing push for the city of Tulsa and other defendants to pay reparations to relatives of victims and survivors of a 1921 massacre in which an estimated 300 Black people were killed…
In the US, Oklahoma death row inmate, subject of prayer rally, to get second clemency hearing
RNS An Oklahoma parole board has voted to grant Julius Jones, an inmate who has been on death row for two decades, an additional hearing to determine if he should gain clemency. The Justice for Julius campaign, a group that has been advocating for his release, announced Monday on its Instagram account that the Oklahoma Pardon and […]
In the US, Oklahoma Governor declares day of prayer as virus surges
Oklahoma City, USAP As the coronavirus surges in the US state of Oklahoma, nearing 200,000 total cases on Tuesday, Governor Kevin Stitt declared Thursday a day of prayer and fasting in the state. “I believe we must continue to ask God to heal those who are sick, comfort those who are hurting and provide renewed […]