Rio Texas Methodist Federation for Social Action

Over Two-Dozen Evangelical Christian Leaders in Texas and Nationwide
Request Mercy for Duane Buck, Urge District Attorney to Not Seek Execution Date

(Houston, TX, Thursday, November 21, 2013) – Today, 27 Evangelical Christian leaders across Texas and the United States are calling on Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson to allow a new, fair sentencing hearing for Duane Buck. Mr. Buck is an African-American man who was condemned to death after his sentencing jury was told that he was likely to be a future danger because of his race.  These Evangelical Christian leaders oppose the setting of any execution date for Mr. Buck.

“We write to respectfully request that you support a new, fair sentencing hearing for death row prisoner Duane Buck,” the letter states. “Although opinions on the death penalty vary within each of our churches, we are strongly united in our view that no death sentence should be a product of racial discrimination, as it was in Mr. Buck’s case.”

The Evangelical Christian leaders who are advocating for Mr. Buck include: Paul Basden and Jim Johnson, Pastors of Preston Trail Community Church; Chris Seay, Pastor of Ecclesia Houston; Robert Hunt, Director of Global Theological Education at Southern Methodist University; David Gushee, Director of the Center for Theology and Public Life at Mercer University; Gabriel Salguero, President of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition; Fisher Humphreys, Professor of Divinity, Emeritus, Samford University, and others.

Their plea comes in the wake of Wednesday’s decision by a splintered Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to dismiss Mr. Buck’s appeal. For more information: http://tcadp.org/2013/11/21/two-dozen-evangelical-leaders-support-new-sentencing-hearing-duane-buck/