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.
Key phases
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.
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.
Call to Action: Stop the execution of an innocent person — contact Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee.
Influence lawmakers to pass a law that would make it illegal to execute Pervis based on his intellectual disability.
Present Pervis’ intellectual disability claim, making it illegal for the state of Tennessee to execute him.
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:
May 2021: Tennessee passes law that retroactively prevents the execution of people with intellectual disabilities, including Pervis.
In Nov. 2020, Gov. Lee grants Pervis a reprieve until April 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Articles about Pervis on Innocence Project website have over 350,000 views in 2021 alone
User-generated and Innocence Project content using #PervisPayne and #JusticeforPervisPayne content has 45 million views on TikTok
768,000 petition signers against Pervis’s execution and fighting for his freedom.
“Pervis Payne” jumped to the highest trending score of 100 on Google trends
