Advocates are urging Missouri Gov. Mike Parson to halt Johnson's execution, citing the Eighth Amendment's prohibition on executing the intellectually disabled.
at 6 p.m. on Tuesday at the state prison in Bonne Terre. He was sentenced to death after being convicted of killing three people during a 1994 robbery at a Columbia convenience store.
"Ernest Johnson categorically meets all three criteria for diagnosis of an intellectual disability and should be granted clemency from execution," Elyse Max, the executive director of Missourians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, toldAdvocates are calling on Missouri Gov. Mike Parson to grant clemency to death row inmate Ernest Johnson."It is a legal and moral travesty for Missouri to murder the most vulnerable citizens.
"Racism is the hallmark of the death penalty in the US, where people of color are far more likely to be executed than white people, especially if the victim is white. Additionally, individuals of color who are intellectually disabled—like Ernest Johnson—are disproportionately likely to be sentenced to death."
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