Sen. Nikki Nice, D-Oklahoma City, joins with members of the Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty to discuss World Day Against the Death Penalty 2026.
OKLAHOMA CITY – State Sen. Nikki Nice, D-Oklahoma City, joined the Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (OK-CADP) on Thursday in commemorating World Day Against the Death Penalty, a global call to end capital punishment and promote a more just and humane criminal justice system.
Observed annually on October 10, World Day Against the Death Penalty mobilizes political leaders, legal professionals, civil society, and the public in a united stand against capital punishment. The initiative was launched in 2003 by the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, a global alliance of over 160 non-governmental organizations, bar associations, and local authorities.
“This year the theme is ‘Stories for Life,’” Nice said. “It’s aimed at understanding the structural, social, and individual conditions that may have contributed to why a person becomes justice involved in the first place, including their experiences with poverty, discrimination, trauma, violence, and other issues that can marginalize and impact people. This insight doesn’t diminish the suffering of victims and their families or the harm caused to society, but it does provide critical context into the death penalty and the effect it has on our communities and our nation.”
Currently, Oklahoma is one of 27 states that has the death penalty, though four of those states have gubernatorial moratoriums in place. In addition, Tennessee’s governor has halted all remaining executions scheduled for 2026 following the recent botched execution of Christa Pike.
“We know the death penalty is applied disproportionately to minorities and those living in poverty. While it is touted as a deterrent to homicide, studies show this is not the reality. It’s also far more expensive for taxpayers to impose the death penalty compared to life without parole,” Nice said. “Two hundred and three people have been exonerated from death row across the country, including 11 in Oklahoma. We have no way of knowing how many innocent people never had that chance and were executed by the state.”
A bill filed in the 60th Legislature would have placed a moratorium on the death penalty in Oklahoma, but it did not make it all the way through. Nice said a moratorium is something she and other Oklahomans still support as well as looking at the creation of a conviction integrity unit for our state.
“A 2017 Death Penalty Review Commission Report looked at the process in our state and recommended 46 reforms,” Nice said. “A moratorium would give Oklahoma an opportunity to examine those recommendations and make necessary changes. Former Governor Brad Henry was a part of that Commission, and he is convinced that innocent people have been executed in our state. If we change nothing, we know that it’s likely to happen again.”
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CUTLINE: Sen. Nikki Nice, D-Oklahoma City, was joined by (left to right) Randy Bauman, former Oklahoma Federal Public Defender Office, Capital Habeas Unit Supervisor, Sen. Mary Boren, D-Norman, and Sara Bana, Amnesty International USA, Oklahoma Death Penalty Abolition Coordinator, to discuss World Day Against the Death Penalty. Not pictured but also participating was Rev. Don Heath, Pastor of Disciples Christian Church in Edmond and former Chair of the Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.
For more information, contact: Sen. Nikki Nice at 405-521-5531 or Nikki.Nice@oksenate.gov
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