STOP the execution of mentally retarded prisoner, Elkie Lee Taylor

Elkie Lee Taylor is scheduled to be executed on 6 November 2008, at 6:00 PM Texas time, for the 1993 murder of Otis Flake. He is mentally retarded. His execution would violate US federal law, and violate the Constitution, yet Texas is intent on proceeding with the execution anyway.

We, The Undersigned, petition the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, and Governor Rick Perry, to uphold the United States Constitution, and the Atkins v. Virginia (2002) Supreme Court ruling, which banned the execution of the mentally retarded, as a violation of the Eight Amendment, which bans "cruel and unusual punishment".

We, The Undersigned, recognize that whilst Mr. Taylor's crime was horrific, and whilst we offer our deepest sympathies to the friends and family of the victim, we cannot accept that his execution, the state killing of a man who has been deemed mentally retarded, is justice.

We, The Undersigned, urge you to uphold justice, and save Mr. Taylor's life.