THE 14TH ANNUAL SHORTY AWARDS

The Shorty Awards honor the best of social media and digital. View this season's finalists!

Special Project

Special Project
From the 14th Annual Shorty Awards

Stop The Execution of Pervis Payne

Entered in Social Good Campaign

Objectives

Rally one million people to stop Tennessee from executing Pervis Payne, who maintains his innocence, for a 1987 murder conviction that was largely based on racially biased myths and without credible physical evidence.

Strategy and Execution

Key phases

  1. Introduce Pervis Payne’s case of injustice to the world: Say his name 

    • Share Pervis Payne's story with a wide audience. Prior to the Innocence Project's involvement, there was close to no media coverage of his case. He only had his family supporting him and believing in his innocence.

    • Give Pervis Payne and his family the respect they deserve, by sharing more about him as a person; through photos, videos, and long-form narratives.

    • Build groundswell of support in Tennessee and beyond through online grassroots advocacy. 

  2. Build momentum around campaign and clemency petition. 

    • Drive global attention and advocacy through storytelling.

    • Launch a TikTok account and connect with creators advocating for Pervis.

    • Create merchandise for rallies and media events. 

  3. Call to Action: Stop the execution of an innocent person — contact Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee. 

  4. Influence lawmakers to pass a law that would make it illegal to execute Pervis based on his intellectual disability. 

Results

The most important result was in November 2021 when Pervis was removed from Tennessee death row after 34 years, becoming the first person to be removed from death row in the state due to an intellectual disability. In January 2022, a judge ruled that Pervis is eligible for parole and has a chance of being freed, an unexpected and miraculous outcome. 

Other key outcomes and metrics include:

Media

Video for Stop The Execution of Pervis Payne

Entrant Company / Organization Name

Innocence Project

Links

Entry Credits