The Naughty Baptist

Letter about Warren Hill

Today Georgia is scheduled to execute Warren Hill. I have no doubt this man is guilty of murder. It is just as obvious, however, that he is also intellectually disabled. Not only is killing him unconstitutional, it is also immoral.

Below is the text of the letter I sent this morning to both Attorney General Olens and Governor Nathan Deal.

Dear Attorney General,

I am writing to urge you to halt the execution of Warren Hill. As you know, the US Supreme Court banned executions of the intellectually disabled. Our state's own experts all agree Mr. Hill falls within this category. It is therefore not only unconstitutionally, but immoral to execute him.

As Dr. King wrote (quoting Augustine before him), an unjust law is no law at all. Our state's burden of proof for establishing intellectually disability is unjust, and we are the only state in the nation that sets the bar so unnecessarily high. It is therefore immoral to sit by and allow this unjust law lead to this unjust action.

I implore you to act. This is not a matter of guilt or innocence, but of true justice. Killing a mentally retarded man is no justice. And it is not what we want our state known for.

Because of Christ,

Rev. Bryan L. Fordham