Mark Jenkins has spent roughly two thirds of his life on death row in Alabama. Jenkins, who is intellectually disabled with an IQ of 74, was just 23 years old when he was sentenced to death for the murder of his friend Tammy Hogeland. When Jenkins was convicted, 10 out of 12 jurors voted for the death penalty. Alabama is one of two states that allows a non-unanimous jury verdict to impose the death penalty.
At the time of Jenkins’s conviction in 1991, it was still legal to sentence intellectually disabled individuals to death. In 2001, the U.S. Supreme Court deemed that executing people with intellectual disabilities violates the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Despite being intellectually disabled, Marks death sentence has remained the same.
The Mercy for Mark initiative seeks to have Jenkins’s death sentence commuted to life without the possibility of parole in light of the 2001 Supreme Court decision. On Oct. 22, Samford International Justice Mission (IJM), Samford Amnesty International, Samford Loves Birmingham and Samford African Students’ Association held a joint gathering to write postcards to Governor Ivey for the initiative.
Lauren Franks, president of Samford Loves Birmingham and secretary for Samford IJM, said that she first heard about the initiative when she was contacted by one of her former coworkers at Alabama Appleseed Center for Law and Justice.
“She reached out to me to see if we had any groups on campus since we’re a faith-based university, that would be willing to write to Governor Ivey and just write please for her to commute his sentence and show him mercy,” Franks stated.
Franks stated that advocating for Mark Jenkins is an opportunity to show that citizens are seeing and care about the injustices happening around them.
“I think it also tells a bigger story that Alabamians do care about the people here and they care about justice for everyone,” Franks stated.
Jessica Michael, Social Media Chair for Samford Amnesty International, said that Mercy for Mark shows why we must have compassion and be open to rehabilitation in our justice system. Michael said that Samford Amnesty was moved by Mark’s story and felt it was important to offer support.
“We are a chapter that cares about human rights and dignity for all, so that means caring about people whose humanity is often overlooked,” Michael said. “Supporting Mercy for Mark gave us a way to stand behind those beliefs and show him that there are people who see his growth and believe his life is worth fighting for.”
Jenkins was baptized shortly after being incarcerated, and has since earned a reputation for being reliable, trustworthy and helpful in prison. Between 2023 and 2026, over sixty people who worked at Holman Prison where Jenkins is incarcerated, including correctional officers, wrote individual letters to the Governor asking for his sentence to be commuted.
Abby Bell, who attended the Mercy for Mark event, said that she felt strongly about Mark’s story since she is an advocate for the abolishment of the death penalty.
“As Christians, we have a duty to stand up for those who need it, and Mark has demonstrated need and is deserving of a commuted sentence,” Bell said. “If you believe in the sanctity of life, you should be against the death penalty. This doesn’t mean Mark will be without punishment but gives him a chance to live out his life in prison and continue in his relationship with Christ.”
Staff Reporter
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