I am in a wrongful conviction class this semester and I have learned a variety of super interesting topics like forensic science, false eyewitness misidentification, false interrogations, and guilty pleas. There are so many factors that go into a wrongful conviction. If you think that innocent people don't get arrested and it's all a hoax because our criminal justice system is so perfect, you're wrong.

On Feb. 12, Julius Jones' best friend and his family came into my class to speak to us about Julius' case. Julius even called us from prison and we had the opportunity to ask him questions about what he thinks about Governor Stitt, does he think he will ever get out, does he forgive the people who put him in prison? Julius seems in high hopes and his supporters are too.

I thought the timing was kind of weirdly ironic how his family came to our class and we were all talking about the death penalty laws in Oklahoma and when they were going to start executing again. And then about two weeks later, Oklahoma decided to start executions again by using Nitrogen gas instead of lethal injection. The chances that I'm in this wrongful conviction class when it's such a hot topic right now and it's perfect timing to be a part of the change that needs to happen. In less than 150 days from now, Oklahoma will give each inmate on death row an execution date. If that happens, it means Oklahoma is planning on killing an innocent man.

In my class, we discussed Bob Macey AKA Cowboy Bob, who was the District Attorney for Oklahoma Country from 1980 to 2001 when he retired. He is one of the deadliest prosecutors in the United States because he has sentenced so many people to death row. Bob Macey believed in harsh punishment and a way to keep murder rates from skyrocketing was to make an example out of people, but he didn't care if you were innocent. Bob Macey was the one who sentenced Julius Jones to be executed.

Here's a brief summary of Julius's case, but if you are still interested and want to know more, Google it for yourself because it's shocking what has happened (but I'll also leave a couple of links below). So Julius was a 19-year-old who had a Presidential Leadership Scholarship to come to OU. He was an Engineering major and loved to play basketball, he was actually going to walk on to the team to play for his Sophomore year. Instead, he was convicted of killing a White man from Edmond named Paul Howell. Julius was charged with first-degree murder and robbery and sentenced to death.

If you watch the documentary or read up on this case, JULIUS IS INNOCENT. I am so passionate about wrongful convictions because what happened to Julius can literally happen to anyone. You might not believe that, but it's true. Our lives can be taken from us at any moment the way it happened to Julius and his family. There is no amount of money that can make up for the 20 years that he's been in prison. There's nothing left to do for him besides let him go back to his family and have a normal life. Please go sign the petition link below, it helps so much. #JusticeForJulius

Click here to read the OU Daily article about Julius's case

Click here to sign Julius Jones' petition.

Click here to visit Julius's website and watch his documentary series