Tag: WCADP

Richard Glossip interview


Glossip is interviewed after his release from prison

June 2026

After fac­ing nine exe­cu­tion dates, and being giv­en three last meals, Richard Glossip was released on bail on May 14, 2026 and set foot out­side of prison walls for the first time in near­ly three decades. In an inter­view with The Intercept, Mr. Glossip dis­cuss­es adjust­ing phys­i­cal­ly and emo­tion­al­ly to his new life as he awaits a pos­si­ble retri­al for the 1997 crime that sent him to death row, despite his long­stand­ing claims of inno­cence. Oklahoma County District Judge Natalie Mai ordered his release on a $500,000 bond, stat­ing ​“The Court hopes that a new tri­al, free of error, will pro­vide all inter­est­ed par­ties, and the cit­i­zens of Oklahoma, the clo­sure they deserve.”

“I tried nev­er to let myself become insti­tu­tion­al­ized… But I mean it’s hard. You go through all these hor­ri­ble things and all these dif­fer­ent dates … and last meals and every­thing. And then it doesn’t look like this day will ever get here. But you always hope that it will“.

Mr. Glossip said of the wide­spread atten­tion on his case, ​“It’s over­whelm­ing but it’s amaz­ing at the same time.” Since his release, he has been able to reunite with his wife Lea, with whom he first cor­re­spond­ed and lat­er mar­ried while in prison. In a con­ver­sa­tion with The Intercept, Mr. Glossip described ini­tial­ly hav­ing dif­fi­cul­ty sleep­ing with­out the con­stant noise of prison, eat­ing at a neigh­bor­hood Italian restau­rant with his wife, and going food shop­ping. He also dis­cussed feel­ing sup­port­ed by his com­mu­ni­ty in Oklahoma. He recount­ed sev­er­al sto­ries of being rec­og­nized, includ­ing by a bar­ber who refused pay­ment for his hair­cut, telling Mr. Glossip it was ​“an hon­or” to cut his hair.

“Once you’re out here and you see all the things that was tak­en away from you — and all the times they almost took every­thing away from me, my life and every­thing — you see all of it now… And it kind of still makes me angry at times because none of this should have ever hap­pened. And this should have nev­er been tak­en from me in the first place”.

Mr. Glossip is now await­ing a pos­si­ble retri­al for his alleged involve­ment in the 1997 ​“mur­der-for-hire” of Barry Van Trees, his boss at an Oklahoma City Motel. Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond, who pre­vi­ous­ly con­fessed error in the pros­e­cu­tions that end­ed in Mr. Glossip’s death sen­tence, announced that his office will not seek the death penal­ty in his new tri­al. The Supreme Court vacat­ed Mr. Glossip’s con­vic­tion and death sen­tence in February 2025, find­ing that pros­e­cu­tors allowed a key wit­ness to lie in court and with­held cru­cial infor­ma­tion from the defense about the same wit­ness. AG Drummond, who sup­port­ed Mr. Glossip’s appeal to the United States Supreme Court, now says “…my office will make sure Mr. Glossip receives a fair tri­al based on hard facts, sol­id evi­dence and truthful testimony.” 

They’ll make the right deci­sions. I know they will. I wouldn’t be out here today if they wasn’t… So I’m just going to let them han­dle it. … I’m just gonna enjoy life.

This text is from the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty

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Mid-May to Mid-June Report Highlights


June 2025

We are pleased to attach the report for the period mid-May to mid-June thanks to group member Lesley for the work in compiling it. It is longer than usual reflecting the increasing activity in the US following President Trump’s actions on the use of the penalty. As ever, we must point out that the world’s biggest user of the penalty – China – who is believed to execute thousands of its citizens, is not present in the report because details are a state secret.

Report: May June (Word)Download
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Death penalty rage in US


A spate of executions in US prompts rage and frustration

December 2024

The authoritative Death Penalty Information Center in the US has published its 2024 report on executions in the USA. The num­ber of new death sen­tences in 2024 increased from 2023, with 26. The num­ber of peo­ple on death row across the United States has con­tin­ued to decline from a peak pop­u­la­tion in the year 2000. Support for the penalty in the US has continued to decline.

Three of the cases it highlights are those which the Salisbury group has campaigned on: Marcellus Williams, Robert Roberson and Richard Glossip.

It has mainly been the Southern states that stick to this penalty. Indeed, it is just four states that conducted 76% of executions: Alabama, Oklahoma, Texas and Missouri. Concern has been expressed that too many people are executed who have a credible defence of innocence. Many of those who await execution or who were executed demonstrate classic vulnerabilities, including intellectual disability or brain damage, serious mental illness, or a history of severe childhood trauma or abuse.

The US joins a motley crew of countries which execute significant numbers of its citizens. China leads the way with large numbers executed but the numbers are a state secret. Others include North Korea, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Iraq.

Why should it be banned? There are five good reasons:

  • It is not a deterrent. If it was, one would expect to see a fall in violent crime in the states using the penalty. There is no such correlation.
  • It is irreversible. Mistakes cannot be put right. There is no comeback from an execution. We can quote Andy Malkinson who was released after 17 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. Had he been executed …
  • It is often used as a political tool especially in countries such as Iran, Saudi and China. There are elements of this in the Southern states of the US with disproportionate numbers of Black people on death row.
  • It is often used after unfair justice. Readers of Clive Stafford-Smith’s work, for example, Injustice, will know that the process of criminal trials in the US is far from perfect or fair. There is no obligation on police to produce evidence that proves a plaintiff’s innocence. Plea bargains are frequently used to enable one participant to escape justice at the expense of another. Juries are often biased.
  • It is discriminatory with a preponderance of black people or those with mental impairment who find themselves on death row.

In Oklahoma, Richard Glossip (pictured) is one of the cases the group has pursued which illustrates several of the

above points. Doubts around the death sentence of Glossip also provoked intense soul-searching. Glossip was convicted of the 1997 murder of Barry Van Treese, the owner of a motel in Oklahoma City which Glossip managed.

He was convicted based on the testimony of a co-worker who later admitted he was the actual murderer. It was also recently revealed that prosecutors destroyed evidence before trial that could have cleared Glossip.

The Report notes that the Supreme Court has largely abandoned its role of critical appraisal of cases which come before it. When Donald Trump assumes the role of President a month from now, he is committed to accelerating the pace of Federal executions. It is likely that a number of death row inmates will die who have credible doubts about their convictions.

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Death penalty report: August, September


September 2023

We are pleased to attach the latest death penalty report produced by group member Lesley for the period mid August to mid September 2023. As ever there is good news and bad with some countries engaged in heavy use of the penalty. China – believed to be the world’s largest executioner of its citizens – is briefly mentioned but detailed statistics are not available because they are a state secret. It is depressing to note in the UK, that following the conviction of Lucy Letby of murdering new born infants and attempting to murder others, a national newspaper ran a poll showing a strong majority to bring the death penalty back for such crimes.

August September (Word)Download
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