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Rallies Planned Across TN for Pervis Payne

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Tuesday, September 7, 2021   

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Tomorrow, events in Knoxville, Memphis, Murfreesboro and Nashville will mark the one-year anniversary of weekly rallies for justice for Pervis Payne.

Payne is a Black man with an intellectual disability who's been on death row for more than 30 years, despite evidence of his innocence. Payne was convicted for the 1987 murder of Shelby County resident Charisse Christopher and her two-year-old daughter.

Last fall, Gov. Bill Lee delayed Payne's execution, citing challenges caused by the pandemic, but the reprieve expired in April.

Kelley Henry, one of Payne's attorneys, said the Tennessee Supreme Court could set a new execution date at any time.

"Pervis's case really is an example of all that is wrong with our criminal legal system," Henry asserted. "Particularly for African American men with intellectual disability, when the death penalty is brought into the mix."

The case has made national headlines. According to the Innocence Project, Payne has an IQ score between 68 and 72, and the reading and writing skills of a child. More than 700,000 people have signed a petition urging the governor to grant clemency.

Henry noted procedural obstacles prevented Payne from litigating based on the issue of his disability for more than a decade, despite a federal law banning death sentences for people with intellectual disabilities. She pointed out a law signed by the governor earlier this year gives people with intellectual disabilities the opportunity to appeal a death sentence, and Payne is in the processing of doing so.

"We're having a hearing on December 13th," Henry explained. "We are hopeful that the court will see that Pervis is in fact intellectually disabled, and rule that he is ineligible for execution."

Rev. Dr. Andre Johnson has been organizing rallies for Payne in Memphis for more than a year. He said it is important for communities to bear witness to Payne's case, and stand with him and his family.

"More people, once they read about the case, want to help," Johnson observed. "And people reach out, and they start to find their own street corners in their own cities and towns, and they stand with us as well."

According to the Innocence Project, key evidence from the case that could identify the perpetrator of the 1987 crime has gone missing.


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