Racialized Law Enforcement Practices May Be Found in Capital Punishment Process

Missouri is at an important crossroads. The events that have unfolded in Ferguson recently highlight significant concerns that many Missourians and Americans across the country have regarding race and the criminal justice system. State leaders like Governor Jay Nixon must acknowledge that deep, harmful perceptions of racial bias exist in many communities in our State and that the events in Ferguson illustrate to many the dramatic disparities in how Black and white communities are treated by law enforcement in Missouri.

Another example of the challenges we face as a State concerning the treatment of people of color by those in positions of power, is the operation of our capital punishment system. Earl Ringo is set to be executed this week – Mr. Ringo is a Black man convicted of the murder of a white man and woman during a robbery and sentenced to die by an all-white jury in Cape Girardeau.

Of course, we do not condone the crimes committed by Mr. Ringo and we extend our heartfelt condolences for the tremendous loss of Dennis Poyser and JoAnna Baysinger.

The role of racial bias in Mr. Ringo’s case, however, has never been properly reviewed by a court, nor has other evidence of racial bias in Missouri’s overall capital punishment system been properly investigated. The Governor alone has the power to halt Mr. Ringo’s execution this week and order an independent Board of Inquiry to review Mr. Ringo’s claims that bias and prejudice unconstitutionally contributed to his death sentence.

Our Governor is faced with a choice: he can take this critical moment as an opportunity to listen and reflect on the concerns that we and others have raised, and consider how best to instill greater confidence in all of our state’s citizens that justice is being fairly served. Or, Governor Nixon can choose the path that will further inflame the tensions we see in Missouri. Executing Mr. Ringo at this time, while so much remains unresolved concerning the fairness of the death sentence in his case, would stand in stark contrast to recent efforts by Governor Nixon to work with and convince communities of color that their voices are heard by our elected leaders.

The entire nation is watching Missouri right now to see how our state and federal leaders act following Ferguson. The nation is also watching the death penalty closely – as state after state is repealing it and there are seemingly endless stories about innocent individuals being exonerated from death row after decades of incarceration for crimes they did not commit. Further, just last week, allegations that Missouri Department of Corrections Director George Lombardi lied about the fact that Missouri has used the same controversial drug in executions that resulted in several horribly botched executions in other states this year. The execution of Mr. Ringo would be Missouri’s tenth in as many months, a rapid and troubling increase that is out-of-step with most of the country and instead places our state in company with the “capital” of capital punishment, Texas.

For all of these reasons, we encourage Governor Nixon to immediately stay Mr. Ringo’s execution and appoint an independent Board of Inquiry to review the role of race in his case. In so doing, the Governor will demonstrate that his recent statements to Missourians were not merely lip service, and that he is genuinely concerned with improving our state’s system of justice – especially when the punishment is final and irreversible.

We also call on Governor Nixon and the Supreme Court of Missouri to refrain from setting in new executions dates until the ongoing St. Louis University School of Law study of death penalty sentencing overall in the state is finished. This independent academic study will help us all better understand to what extent race or any other illegal or irrelevant factor has led to death sentences in the state. The SLU study, along with the experts’ findings in the 2012 American Bar Association's Missouri Death Penalty Assessment Report, will surely provide guidance to Missouri leaders and lawmakers in implementing reforms that could give Missourians and the nation greater confidence in our system of justice.

Turning a blind eye and continuing to execute prisoners despite legitimate concerns being raised about our capital punishment system smacks of the same “fear of too much justice” Justice Brennan condemned in the Supreme Court McCleskey decision almost 30 years ago.

Missouri should seize this unique moment in history to move forward and create real change in the way citizens in Ferguson – and communities like it all over the state – are treated by those in power. Now is the time to truly examine institutionalized racism and disparate treatment in Missouri, and that examination can never be more important than when a man’s life is at stake.