The local interfaith community, with a shared belief in the dignity of all human life, is asking Governor DeSantis to grant James Dailey clemency, and commute his sentence to life in prison with this letter.

We understand that the Clemency Commission under Governor Scott declined to recommend Mr. Dailey’s case for a hearing on clemency relief, nearly four years ago. In the last four years, a significant amount of evidence has come to light suggesting that Mr. Dailey is innocent of the crime for which he is to be put to death. We encourage you to take a deeper look at this troubling case, and at the very least give Mr. Dailey full consideration in a new clemency proceeding.

Clemency is defined as “mercy.” What is merciful – to both the family of Shelly Boggio, and to James Dailey and his family – is to at least fully explore that the man who is responsible for her death is the one paying the ultimate price for the crime. We continue to pray for healing for the family of Ms. Boggio. It does not seem just, or merciful, that Jack Pearcy, the man who has repeatedly confessed to being single handedly responsible for Ms. Boggio’s death, is serving a life sentence in prison, with parole eligibility, while Mr. Dailey awaits his imminent execution.

In a state that leads the country in death row exonerations, certainly not a proud statistic, we cannot risk that this, potentially Florida’s 100th execution, is also ultimately Florida’s 30th exoneration. Mr. Dailey is a veteran and he honorably served our country during three tours in Vietnam and one in Korea. At a minimum, we owe him a thorough review of his case before making an irreversible mistake.

We urge Governor DeSantis to search his heart and direct his administration to conduct a full and fair review through the clemency process. After considering all of new evidence, and the disparate sentence that Jack Pearcy received, we urge him to grant Mr. Dailey clemency, and commute his sentence to life in prison.

Faith leaders who wish to add their names to the letter to Governor DeSantis, should contact Sabrina Burton Schultz, sab@dosp.org or 727-344-1611, ex. 5325.