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Oklahoma Republican Governor Kevin Stitt allowed the execution of Philip Hancock to proceed Thursday morning. The killing went forward despite Hancock’s claims of self-defense and despite a clemency recommendation from the state’s Pardon and Parole Board.
Gov. Stitt continues a pattern of dealing out death that has made Oklahoma one of the most active death penalty states in the nation.
In a move that some on social media have criticized as cowardly, Stitt remained silent all the way up to the execution time, leading the Department of Corrections to move forward in a delayed execution.
Stitt’s refusal to accept the parole board’s recommendation, or to even publicize his decision, meant Philip Hancock spent his last days, hours and minutes wondering whether Oklahoma would kill or spare him.
Oklahoma began his execution at 11:13 a.m., according to Frontier journalist Ashlynd Huffman.
Oklahoma governor’s silence on Philip Hancock execution seen as cruel but usual
Ahead of Thursday’s execution of Philip Hancock, anti-death penalty advocates held a vigil at the Lazarus Community at Clark United Methodist Church in Oklahoma City. Roughly 8,000 petitions had been turned in to Gov. Stitt’s office asking him to spare Hancock’s life.
“It is sad that Governor Stitt has everyone on pins and needles about this,” said Abraham Bonowitz, executive director of Death Penalty Action, an organization dedicated to stopping state-sanctioned killings.
“By unnecessarily stringing out his decision-making process for weeks, he has left the families of the victims in this case, all of Phil’s advocates and loved ones, the prison workers, and Phil himself, waiting for the news,” Bonowitz said.
It marks yet another time Stitt has delayed or denied a clemency recommendation in two years.
Convicted for a 2001 double murder, 59-year-old Hancock maintained he acted in self-defense until his last day.
Hancock told the parole board he was forced to fight for his life after Robert Jett, 37, and James Lynch, 58, attacked him in Jett’s south Oklahoma City home.
“Please understand the awful situation I found myself in,” Hancock told the board. “I have no doubt they would have killed me. They forced me to fight for my life.”
Hancock claims the men were in a motorcycle gang.
4th execution in 2023, 11th in two years
According to the Associated Press, Stitt’s spokesperson said he was interviewing defense attorneys, prosecutors and the victims’ families before making a decision.
The family of Robert Jett urged the parole board to reject clemency for Hancock. Prosecutors argued that Hancock shot Jett and then followed him into the backyard where Hancock shot him again.
“I don’t claim that my brother was an angel by any means, but he didn’t deserve to die in the backyard like a dog,” Ryan Jett said.
Hancock’s execution marks Oklahoma’s fourth in 2023 and 11th since Gov. Stitt resumed executions in 2021. Only Texas has killed more people since Oklahoma resumed exeuctions in 2021.
In fact, Texas has only killed two more people than Oklahoma since Oct. 2021, despite having a population that is seven times larger.
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Governor rejects clemency recommendations, rejects mercy
Oklahoma’s death penalty system has been plagued by botched executions, prosecutorial interference and strong innocence claims for years.
Following a series of botched executions that resulted in detainees suffering heart attacks and being prescribed the wrong kill drug, former Republican Governor Mary Fallin paused executions after the 2015 botched killings.
The moratorium was followed by a 2017 report in the Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology. It found Oklahoma’s use of the death penalty was racially biased and plagued with problems.
The report’s researchers analyzed 4,600 homicide cases. They found state prosecutors are more likely to call for the death penalty in a crime where the victim is White and less likely to call for it in when the victim is an ethnic minority.
Not counting Philip Hancock, who is White, 3 out of the last 10 men executed in Oklahoma were Black, and 10 out of the last 20 men executed were Black, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
It means Black Americans are overrepresented on Oklahoma’s death row despite making up just 7 percent of the state population.
Flaws in the system
The state-sanctioned killing of Philip Hancock in Oklahoma continues a brutal legacy.
The state’s death penalty system was confronted for the first time in 2021 when millions around the world supported clemency for Julius Jones. Gov. Stitt ultimately spared him from death four hours before his execution time.
Jones’s family continues to fight for his freedom after Stitt ordered him to remain in prison for life. The family and their supporters visited Vice President Kamala Harris’ legal team on November 17 to advocate for his innocence and drastic changes in the criminal legal system.
Since 2021, Gov. Stitt has ignored several clemency recommendations from the parole board. He’s overseen the killing the oldest death row detainee in state history and Black men who suffered from severe mental illness or severe abuse as a child.
Similar to Julius Jones’ case, Philip Hancock’s case was riddled with an ineffective council. His defense attorneys said trial attorneys for Hancock in 2001 admitted they were dealing with substance abuse problems while working his case.
Some Oklahoma Republicans supported life for Philip Hancock
Notably, even some conservatives have begun to push back against the state’s execution machine.
Reps. Kevin McDugle and Justin Humphrey are far from left-wing activists. Yet, the case of Richard Glossip, a man who has survived mulitple execution dates, has caused a shift in support for state-sanctioned killings.
Dozens of Republican lawmakers have called for a moratorium out of fear of killing innocent people. Even the state’s top prosecutor, Attorney General Gentner Drummond, doesn’t want the state to kill Glossip in light of new evidence.
Meanwhile, Hancock also received support from them ahead of his execution.
“Oklahomans, we cherish the right to defend ourselves if we’re attacked,” McDugle said, according to McAlester News-Capital. “Yet, Phillip Hancock is scheduled to be executed on Nov. 30 for defending himself.”
On a national level, a new Gallup poll shows a majority (50%-47%) of Americans believe the death penalty is administered unfairly for the first time in history.
The execution of Philip Hancock marks the final state-sanctioned killing in Oklahoma for the year.
“Justice has been served for the murders of Robert Jett and James Lynch. I hope today brings a measure of peace to the families of the men whose lives were tragically cut short by Phillip Dean Hancock,” Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond said in a statement Thursday.
Connie Johnson, a progressive Black former state Senator who has unsuccessfully ran for Governor, condemned Thursday’s execution.
“My level of distress at this and previous executions in Oklahoma is staggering, and at times like this, seemingly insurmountable. Tears are rolling down my face in inconsolable grief for this callous destruction of human life,” Johnson said.
It’s unclear just how many will be conducted in 2024 as Stitt shows no signs of showing the level of mercy found in the teachings of a religion he claims to support.
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