Thread by @ShaneClaiborne

I keep thinking of my visit with James Coddington a few days ago. He is still facing execution tomorrow.  James went 14 years without a single visitor, except his lawyers. Let that sink in…

Last month he had his first visitors, a month before his execution.  And even we were not allowed a contact visit.  We had to talk through plexiglass. He said sometimes it gets so lonely he curls up with his bible and sleeps with it.

James had such a difficult life.  Born into poverty. Dirt floor, no toilet. He was abused. When he was a baby, his siblings put whiskey & beer in his baby bottle for entertainment. They later introduced him to drugs. None of that excuses what he did, but it does help explain it.

Addicted to drugs, he went to his friend Albert Hale’s house to ask for money.  Mr. Hale didn’t want to support his addiction but invited him in.  They watched TV for a couple of hours, and James made the worst decision of his life.  He killed albert Hale.

We can be against the death penalty and still care deeply for the victims. To be against the death penalty is not to be against justice… we just believe violence and killing are the problem, not the solution. Execution doesn’t heal the wounds. It just creates new ones.

What he did has haunted him his whole life.  He said some days it’s hard to even keep going.  He’s done all he knows to do to heal the wounds of what he did.  He regrets it every day of his life.

In prison, he committed his life to Christ.  He pledged to make the world better. He’s been a leader in prison. A former prison warden has written a letter about his character, a testament to who James is now… We are all more than the worst thing we have ever done.

The Board of Pardon and Parole heard James’s case, and voted for clemency.  Now the decision to show mercy lies solely in the hands of @GovStitt.  No person should have that power or have to bear that burden.

Gov. Stitt is a Christian, so we are pleading with him to heed the advice of Jesus, and of his own Board, and show mercy.  After all, it was Jesus who said:  “Blessed are the merciful for they will be shown mercy.”