Thinking of the death penalty

Today’s blog from the Department of Justice, Peace & Human Development of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) focuses on the death penalty. It begins with this quote from Pope Francis:

“All Christians and men of good will are thus called to fight not only for the abolition of the death penalty, whether legal or illegal, and in all its forms, but also to improve prison conditions, with respect for the human dignity of the people deprived of their freedom”

The entry is titled, Yes. The Church Is Opposed to the Death Penalty. This may take some by surprise, but opposition to the death penalty has been a Catholic teaching for many years.

Pope Saint John Paul II prayed the following at a Papal Mass at Regina Coeli Prison in Rome on July 9, 2000: "May the death penalty, an unworthy punishment still used in some countries, be abolished throughout the world." He also spoke out against it on many occasions, such as the previous year when he said the following on a visit to the United States:

A sign of hope is the increasing recognition that the dignity of human life must never be taken away, even in the case of someone who has done great evil. Modern society has the means of protecting itself, without definitively denying criminals the chance to reform. I renew the appeal I made most recently at Christmas for a consensus to end the death penalty, which is both cruel and unnecessary.

In 1999, the USCCB issued A Good Friday Appeal To End The Death Penalty. They wrote, in part:

For more than 25 years, the Catholic bishops of the United States have called for an end to the death penalty in our land. Sadly, however, death sentences and executions in this country continue at an increasing rate. In some states, there are so many executions they rarely receive much attention anymore. On this Good Friday, a day when we recall our Savior’s own execution, we appeal to all people of goodwill, and especially Catholics, to work to end the death penalty.

There is much more information on the website of the Catholic Mobilizing Network to End the Use of the Death Penalty.

Maryland Senate votes to repeal the death penalty

The Washington Post reports that Maryland Senate voted to repeal the death penalty, moving the state closer to becoming the sixth in as many years to abolish executions.

The 27 to 20 vote was widely seen as a key step in ending capital punishment in Maryland, which has not executed a death-row prisoner since 2005. The legislation now goes before the House of Delegates, where a vote could come as early as next week.

The House is expected to approve the measure, handing Gov. Martin ’Malley a long-sought legislative victory at a time when he is weighing a run for national office in 2016. 

“It’s time to end this ineffective and expensive practice and put our efforts behind crime fighting strategies that work,” O’Malley (D) said in a statement.  

Shari Silberstein, executive -director of Equal Justice USA, a group that is working to end the death penalty, said that Maryland’s action is part of a national trend and that she envisions another half-dozen states adopting the policy in the next several years.  

“Just a few years ago, you wouldn’t have had a governor with national ambitions making this a banner issue,” Silberstein said. “It’s no longer the ‘third rail’ of politics. Voters don’t punish people at the polls for being anti-death penalty.”

You can read more here.

The death penalty in New York

Statement by David Kaczynski, Executive Director of New Yorkers Against the Death Penalty, on Renewed Calls for the Death Penalty

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: APRIL 25, 2007

We join all New Yorkers in mourning the death of State Trooper David C. Brinkerhoff killed this morning in Margaretville, and express our deepest sympathies to his family. We all feel deeply the loss of a man who dedicated his life to the protection of the public, and express our deep concern for the well-being of the other trooper shot today and the continued recovery of the trooper shot on Tuesday.

Similarly, we grieve for the loss of Utica police Officer Thomas Lindsey, killed this month as he worked to protect the people he was sworn to serve.

We hope, however, that calls for the death penalty reflect only the passions of the moment, as we all come to grips with the losses that we, as citizens of this state, have suffered.

Moves by some members of the Legislature to introduce a death penalty bill for those convicted of killing police officers are an empty gesture that diverts attention from criminal justice priorities that would be more effective in curtailing violent crime.

Growing majorities of New Yorkers prefer life without parole as the appropriate maximum sentence for those convicted of committing the most serious crimes. There are many reasons people oppose the death penalty * it is biased in its application, costs far too much and forces families of victims to endure decades of legal maneuvering. Too often, that legal wrangling creates a macabre sense of celebrity around the perpetrator of the crime, instead of allowing us to remember and honor the victim.

In addition, recent years have seen an astonishing number of exonerations of death row inmates freed after post-conviction investigations established their innocence.

For many, at its core, we don't fight murder by resorting to state-sponsored killing done in our name.

As we mourn the deaths of Trooper Brinkerhoff and Officer Lindsey, we pray for some positive response to these unspeakable tragedies. Let us resolve to fight violence through effective and rational means. The futile and wasteful mixed message of capital punishment contributes nothing to making New Yorkers safer.

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The New York State Catholic Conference opposes the reinstatement of the death penalty. Their position is explained here.