Become a Vote Mobilizer
Vote Mobilizers are our election program leaders who will drive voter contact efforts in their area and across the country!
Join NowVIDEO: Sister Helen, Local Advocates Demand Execution Delay for Ivan Cantu
McKinney, TX – As reported by Fox 4, with five days until Ivan Cantu’s scheduled execution on February 28, leading anti-death penalty activist Sister Helen Prejean; Cantu’s 2001 trial jury foreman, Jeffrey Calhoun; and North Park Presbyterian’s Reverend Amy Moore, along with Cantu’s legal counsel, family, and friends, delivered remarks and a petition with more than 100,000 signatures yesterday to Collin County District Attorney Greg Willis and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, demanding that they delay Cantu’s execution.
According to a legal filing made before the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, there is more new evidence showing that the state’s star witness in Cantu’s trial falsely testified and that the lead detective knew she was lying. This week, Kim Kardashian also joined Prejean and actor Martin Sheen in making the case that Cantu’s execution must be delayed.
Said 2001 trial jury foreman Jeffrey Calhoun: “Since learning that the integrity of key witnesses’ testimonies during the Cantu trial were questionable and potentially invalid, there needs to be more investigation by the state. I am now not convinced that the due process is complete. The perjury involved constitutes further consideration. Otherwise, Mr. Cantu’s execution would be premature.”
Said Sister Helen Prejean: “There’s no way I would acquiesce or be complicit in the death of Ivan Cantu and simply pray him into eternity. This is not the God of life I believe in.”
Said North Park Presbyterian’s Rev. Amy Moore: “What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly? Greg Willis, we are calling on you to be humble and to do what is just. Ivan Cantu’s execution must be delayed in order to examine the system that tried and convicted him despite mounting evidence of reasonable doubt. It is his constitutional right and the right thing to do for a country, and state, that claims itself to be faithful.”
Said Faith Commons’ Mara Richards Bim: “The desire to see the justice system work appropriately to make sure that no innocent person is wrongly sentenced, especially when the sentence involves the taking of a human life, is undebated.
The state is a moral agent, acting on behalf of its citizens with an obligation to do justice and, just as importantly, to undo injustice. There is sufficient evidence to suggest that an injustice may have been done in this particular case. Until all the evidence can be reexamined through the appeals process, Mr. Cantu’s execution should be stayed.”
###
MoveOn is a people-powered force for progress. MoveOn mobilizes the left to enact progressive change. We are the home base for millions of members who refuse to accept the status quo and are moved to take action. For more than a generation, MoveOn has been a bulwark against the radical right, channeling our voices to end wars, protect democracy, and advance justice for all.