The Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty presents up to three Abolitionists Awards each year honoring individuals who have demonstrated “extraordinary effort to end the death penalty in Oklahoma.”

1 – The Phil Wahl Abolitionist of the Year Award has been presented each Spring at the Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty Annual Membership Dinner Meeting since 1992.  Phil Wahl, (Aug. 17, 1906 – Sept. 26, 2009) a retired United Methodist Minister, served as a model of untiring work for abolishing the death penalty.  Any person is eligible who has worked diligently during the year to move us toward repealing the death penalty and discrediting it in the minds of both the public and legislature so reenactment is unlikely.

2 – The Lifetime Abolitionist Award is presented to those for a life serving to end capital punishment.

3 – The Opio Toure Courageous Advocate Award was established in 2002 to honor outstanding efforts by Defense Attorneys. The award is name after the late Oklahoma State Representative Opio Toure (March 31, 1954 – February 4, 2008). A die-hard opponent of the death penalty, Toure shepherded House Bill 2635 through the Legislature, which was a measure that sought to stop the execution of mentally disabled offenders with intelligence quotients of 70 and/or below, and received wide bipartisan support. Later, the U.S. Supreme Court decided in the case of Atkins v. State of Virginia that executing the mentally disabled was in fact cruel and unusual punishment.

Recipients: