John Thompson: Save My Former Student
John Thompson writes about his former student, who is scheduled to die:
As the nation wrestles with the latest police killings and Black Lives Matter protests, the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board must decide whether to allow the execution of my former student, Julius Jones. Julius’ request for commutation has gained the support of the Congressional Black Caucus; criminal justice expert, Bryan Stevenson; numerous elected officials, pastors, bishops and archbishops; the Executive Director of Oklahomans for Criminal Justice Reform; the President of the NAACP State Conference; and public figures ranging from Kim Kardashian to a former Attorney General of Canada; and the Executive Director of the George Kaiser Foundation.
Now, three NBA basketball players, Blake Griffin, Russell Westbrook, and Trae Young, have joined in support of Julius.
Griffin, Westbrook, Young: Commute the sentence of Julius Jones https://nondoc.com/2020/06/03/westbrook-griffin-young-commute-sentence-julius-jones/ via @nondocmedia
I was struck by the personal part of letter written by Griffin, who often was in our gym when I played basketball with Julius, his brother and his sister, as well as the person who we believe committed the murder. He wrote:
My father, Tommy Griffin, coached Julius when he played basketball at John Marshall High School, and often I CONTINUE READING: John Thompson: Save My Former Student | Diane Ravitch's blog
