Representatives Bush and Cleaver are calling on Governor Parson to stop the execution of David Hosier, citing concerns about his case.
Congresswoman Cori Bush (MO-01) and Congressman Emanuel Cleaver II (MO-05) sent a letter to Missouri Governor Mike Parson urging him to halt the execution of David Hosier, scheduled for June 11, 2024.
Medical experts have concluded that Mr. Hosier, a 69-year old former veteran of the United States Navy, committed his offense while suffering from significant brain damage from a stroke. His trial team failed to fully present this information to jurors, hindering their ability to make an informed decision. Numerous members of Mr. Hosier’s jury have since stated that had this information been better presented, their deliberations would have gone differently.
“Each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done. The same is true for Mr. Hosier. As ordained ministers, we believe in accountability and the sanctity of life, and do not think these tenets are mutually exclusive,” wrote the lawmakers. “We must therefore make investments in the social and economic well-being of all people. In order to do so, we must first acknowledge the moral depravity of executions. They are not about justice; they are about who has institutional power and who doesn’t.”
A copy of the letter can be found HERE.
Representatives Bush and Cleaver have written similar letters to Governor Parson ahead of the state-sanctioned executions of Brian Dorsey, Johnny Johnson, Amber McLaughlin, Kevin Johnson and Ernest Johnson.
Since first coming to Congress, Congresswoman Bush has been a national leader in the push for clemency reform and the need to end the death penalty. In February 2021, the Congresswoman urged President Biden to use his pardon power to correct legacies of injustice in the clemency process, including a call to commute the sentences of all on federal death row. In December 2021, Congresswoman Bush, alongside Representatives Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) and Hakeem Jeffries (NY-08), introduced the Fair and Independent Experts in Clemency (FIX Clemency) Act, historic legislation that works to transform our nation’s broken clemency system and address the growing mass incarceration crisis. She is a proud cosponsor of the Federal Death Penalty Prohibition Act, which would end the use of the death penalty by the federal government.
#DeathPenalty #CriminalJusticeReform
