46 Executions in the U.S. in 2010 Are Still Too Many
By The Editors of the Washington Post (December 26, 2010) There is a reason for hope when no new death sentences are imposed in death penalty states, as happened in Virginia and Georgia in 2010. Also heartening are drops in... MORE
All Life Is Sacred
By Rick Potts, C.Ss.R. One of the biggest ironies of the pro-life movement is that many people who would move heaven and earth to convince a desperate, frightened mother not to kill her unborn baby would never consider trying to convince... MORE
American Bar Association Recommends Reforms to Missouri’s Death Penalty
The American Bar Association has released a report on Missouri’s capital punishment system after a two-year study of the state’s death penalty. The study was conducted by legal experts, including former and current judges, lawyers, and law professors. Douglas Copeland,... MORE
A Call to End the Use of the Death Penalty – Building a Campaign for Human Dignity
By The National Council of Catholic Women Adopted at the 2011 NCCW Convention Whereas Pope John Paul II called us to build a “culture of life” that cannot be achieved if we condone a “culture of violence” by sanctioned killing,... MORE
Capital Punishment 2011: Bureau of Justice Statistics
By Tracy L. Snell This annual report presents characteristics of persons under sentence of death on December 31, 2011, and persons executed in 2011. Tables present state-by-state information on the movement of prisoners into and out of death sentence status during... MORE
Dead Wrong: Catholics must no longer support capital punishment
By Carol Glatz, Catholic News Service September 30, 2011 The Catholic Church’s position on capital punishment has evolved considerably over the centuries. And as a result, “it is not a message that is immediately understood — that there is no room... MORE
Death Penalty for Female Offenders: 1973 to 2011
By Victor Streib Professor of Law (retired) Ohio Northern University Beginning with the first legislative enactments of modern death penalty statutes in 1973, we now have nearly forty years of death sentences being imposed in American jurisdictions. This post-1973 time period is... MORE
Did Jesus Break Silence on the Death Penalty?
By Dale Recinella (February 2010) Last month I traveled to Louisville, Ky., to address folks at a nationwide conference on capital punishment. My topic was the misuse of Scripture by Christians to claim support for the American death penalty. The question-andanswer phase... MORE
Did Blessed Pope John Paul II Overrule Aquinas in ‘Evangelium Vitae’?
By Dale S. Recinella This past weekend I was in Orlando speaking at a tremendous diocesan gathering called a “Day for Life”. In Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life), his landmark encyclical on respect life, Pope John Paul II instructed... MORE
Former Supreme Court Justice Stevens Criticizes Death Penalty
By Adam Liptak (November 27, 2010) In 1976, just six months after he joined the Supreme Court, Justice John Paul Stevens voted to reinstate capital punishment after a four-year moratorium. With the right procedures, he wrote, it is possible to... MORE