Reps. Cleaver, Bush Urge Governor Parson to Spare Ernest Johnson’s Life

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, U.S. Representatives Emanuel Cleaver, II (D-MO) and Cori Bush (D-MO) sent Missouri Governor Michael L. Parson a plea to stay the execution of Ernest Lee Johnson. The first execution in Missouri since May 2020, the Members are urging the Governor to recognize the cruelty and unconstitutionality of executing an intellectually disabled man, and grant him the humanity that everyone in Missouri deserves.

"Mr. Johnson's execution would be a grave act of injustice," the Members wrote. "Mr. Johnson ‘meets all statutory and clinical definitions' of intellectual disability. The Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution prohibits executing intellectually disabled people. As members of the U.S. House of Representatives, we urge you not to act in contravention to our Constitution. You must not execute Mr. Johnson. In addition, killing those who lack the intellectual ability to conform their behavior to the law is morally and legally unconscionable."

"Furthermore," the lawmakers continued, "Johnson was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2008 and underwent brain tissue removal, according to court records. Scare tissue from the removal will likely cause him painful seizures after he is injected with pentobarbital, a seizure-inducing medication. For all of these reasons, we are staunch in our belief that Mr. Johnson should be granted clemency because he – like any person – is worthy of retribution and care."

Congressman Cleaver has been a strong advocate for abolishing the death penalty and for clemency reform, supporting legislation that would prohibit the use of the death penalty at the federal level and requiring re-sentencing of those currently on death row. Most recently, in September, Cleaver joined Rep. Bush in requesting that Biden commute the sentences of those individuals released during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"I want to be clear that we are by no means minimizing the horrific acts perpetrated by Mr. Johnson more than 25 years ago, and I believe he deserves to be held accountable for the crimes he committed," said Congressman Cleaver. "However, in the United States of America, it is legally and morally unacceptable to execute an individual who is intellectually disabled. For that reason, I urge the Governor to uphold the Constitution of the United States and mercifully reduce the sentence of Ernest Johnson to life in prison without the possibility of parole."

The official text of the letter is available here.

Emanuel Cleaver, II is the U.S. Representative for Missouri's Fifth Congressional District, which includes Kansas City, Independence, Lee's Summit, Raytown, Grandview, Sugar Creek, Blue Springs, Grain Valley, Oak Grove, North Kansas City, Gladstone, Claycomo, and all of Ray, Lafayette, and Saline Counties. He is a member of the exclusive House Financial Services Committee; Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Housing, Community Development, and Insurance; member of the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress; member of the Committee on Homeland Security; and a Senior Whip of the Democratic Caucus. A high-resolution photo of Congressman Cleaver is available here.