Prison contractor The Geo Group tried to negotiate a $3 million pay increase with Oklahoma this year. But records show state prison officials found the company violated its contract by failing to lock prisoners in their cells, conduct security checks and leaving prisoners alone in pods without staff supervision.
Emmanuel Littlejohn, 52, has been on death row for 32 years. Gov. Kevin Stitt is faced with the decision to commute his sentence or move forward with his execution.
Richard Rojem Jr. is the second person Oklahoma has executed this year.
Richard Norman Rojem Jr., 66, was sentenced to death after kidnapping, raping and murdering a 7-year-old girl in 1984.
Richard Rojem is expected to be Oklahoma’s second execution this year after spending nearly four decades on death row.
Instructors for the company Street Cop Training joked about Tasering and pepper spraying people and encouraged unconstitutional traffic stops, one report found. Oklahoma’s police training agency doesn’t vet course materials for officers.
The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals ruled this week it would change the manner by which executions are scheduled in the state, opting to set each execution date individually instead of in groups.
Authorities jailed Michael James Hoeppner under suspicion of drunk driving in March 2019. He wasn’t intoxicated but suffering from a treatable illness.
