The Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (OK-CADP) will host its 34th Annual Awards Dinner and Meeting on Saturday, May 16, 2026, at the University of Central Oklahoma’s George Nigh University Center in Edmond.
Doors open to the public at 5 pm, with access to vendor tables, registration and a cash bar reception. Dinner will be served at 6:15 pm, and the program will begin at 7 pm. The event will also be available via Zoom registration.
Austin attorney Walter C. Long, founder and board member of the “After Violence Project,” will deliver the evening’s keynote address. The title of his talk is The Death Penalty: A Public Health Issue.
Long has worked as a post-conviction capital defense attorney for nearly three decades. He advocates for recognizing the death penalty as a trauma-organized social system that reproduces the dynamics of abusive family systems on a societal scale.
“The death penalty takes one tragedy—a murder—and expands the pain and suffering to include so many others,” Long said. “Although ‘execution’ and ‘murder’ are both the premeditated killing of a human being, we take great care to make execution look nothing like murder. We ritualize and medicalize the procedure and embrace it as somehow less violent than the crime being punished.”
Long continued, “Then you lay bare the moral disengagement that leads to moral injury. The Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution specifically prohibits cruel and unusual punishment, but what could be more cruel—or certainly more unusual—than having to play a role in, or witness, the killing of another human being, however state-sanctioned?”
OK-CADP Chair Dr. Elizabeth Overman noted, “As Oklahomans, public perceptions surrounding executions are shaped by highly inflammatory narratives that obscure the humanity of those vulnerable enough to be selected for execution. The public, along with the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board, as well as the Governor’s Office, and elected decision makers, are routinely exposed to characterizations deliberately designed to arouse feelings of fear and anxiety. This strategy fuels outrage and revulsion, making state-sanctioned homicide appear justified when it is failed social policy.”
“The death penalty is mental torture as defined by the United Nations Convention Against Torture,” Long added. “Everyone connected to the system—from the condemned prisoner to those required to participate in the process—is exposed to the same psychological threat that defines torture.”
During the program, OK-CADP will honor members of the community with its annual Abolitionist Awards, including:
- Phil Wahl Abolitionist of the Year Award
- Opio Toure Courageous Advocate Award
- Lifetime Abolitionist Award
This year the coalition will introduce two new honors:
- The Cece Jones-Davis Moving Forward Award, recognizing advocates under the age of 50 who are working to end the death penalty; and
- The Responsible Criminal Justice Reporting Award, honoring excellence in ethical and accurate criminal justice journalism.
Jahruba and the Jah Mystics will provide music for the event.
Tickets for the OK-CADP 2026 Annual Awards Dinner are $75 for adults and $25 for students. Tables/Sponsorships are available for $600 (8 tickets). Organizations purchasing a table will also receive a vendor booth from which to share information about their work and advocacy efforts. Purchasing a vendor table only is $50, and a vendor table plus one ticket is $100. Guests requesting vegetarian meals are asked to note same when registering.
Tickets may be purchased and vendor tables reserved online at okcadp.org. To purchase by mail, send a check or money order by May 8, 2026, along with guest’s name and vendor organization name, if applicable, to: OK-CADP, PO Box 713, OKC OK 73101-0713.
NOTE: Oklahoma is currently scheduled to execute Raymond Johnson on May 14, 2026, for the 2007 murders of Brooke Whitaker and her daughter, Kya, in Tulsa.
Tags: death penalty, OK-CADP Annual Dinner, public health issue, Walter C. Long
