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 the number of executions in places such as Texas, which has long been the nation’s leader in capital punishment but put to death seven fewer inmates this year than in 2009. The downward trend is welcome. We hope that it is heading toward abolition. Only then will there be certainty that the state has not put innocents to death.

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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 a court to spare the life of a convicted murderer or rapist. Some might even… 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, and because t he imposition of the death penalty deprives human beings of their God-given… 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 2011, status of capital statutes, and methods of execution. Tables also summarize data on offender characteristics, such as sex, race, Hispanic origin, and time between death sentence and execution. Data are from the National Prisoner Statistics (NPS-8) series.

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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 for supporting the death penalty in today’s world,” said a Vatican’s expert on capital punishment and arms control. Because the church has only in the past few decades begun closing the window — if not shutting it completely — on the permissibility of the death penalty, people who give just a partial reading of the church’s teachings may still think the death penalty is acceptable today, said Tommaso Di Ruzza, desk officer at the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.

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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 referred to as the current era of the death penalty, operating under quite different laws and procedures than did earlier death penalty eras. This report, now available primarily in electronic format, supersedes the written report, “Capital Punishment of Female Offenders,” generated quarterly by this author from 1984 through early 1998.
These reports chronicle the exact dates of imposition and reversal or removal of the death sentence by a court or executive officer. Therefore, the list of female offenders currently under death sentences excludes those for whom the sentence has been legally reversed or removed even if the case is still being reviewed or reconsidered. However, it is not uncommon for such a person to continue to be housed on the prison’s death row even though no longer legally under a death sentence. The list also includes those female offenders under death sentences who are housed temporarily in local jails or prisons rather than the jurisdiction’s death row prison. Such temporary housing typically occurs (1) when the individual has just been sentenced to death but not yet transported to the death row prison or (2) when she is serving as a witness or defendant in another trial or proceeding and must be located nearby. In either case, they are under sentences of death but are not physically on death row and often are not even known or listed by the prison officials.

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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 of the presentation was enlightening. A young woman from Virginia expressed bewilderment. “Every time I try to approach one of our elected officials on this subject, they quote „life for life‟ from the Old Testament and that‟s the end of it. They won‟t even talk to me. It does not matter what political party they are in or what faith they are. That‟s all I get.” The truth of the matter, I explained, is those folks probably are well-intentioned and think that they are applying the holy Scriptures. But in fact they are not.

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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 Catholics worldwide to hold such days every year. “The celebration of this day should be… 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 ensure “evenhanded, rational and consistent imposition of death sentences under law.” In 2008, two years before he announced his retirement, Justice Stevens reversed course and in a concurrence said that he now believed the death penalty to be unconstitutional. But the reason for that change of heart, after more than three decades on the court and some 1,100 executions, has in many ways remained a mystery, and now Justice Stevens has provided an explanation.

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From Condemnation to Conversion: Seeking Restorative Justice in the Prison System

By Stephen J. Pope (November 21, 2011)

Citizens want perpetrators of serious crime punished in the name of maintaining the rule of law, deterring future crime and ensuring that criminals “pay their debt to society.” Though we still refer to departments of “corrections,” the penal system in fact focuses on retribution more than rehabilitation. Stigmatizing offenders and demanding longer sentences make for good electoral returns. Yet as recidivism rates show, the resulting policies do not encourage the rehabilitation of offenders. Our neighborhoods are less safe as a result.

Incarceration is sometimes necessary to protect society from dangerous criminals. But holding an offender accountable is not the same as defining him by the worst thing he ever did.

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Group Gives Up Death Penalty Work

By Adam Liptak (January 4, 2010)

Last fall, the American Law Institute, which created the intellectual framework for the modern capital justice system almost 50 years ago, pronounced its project a failure and walked away from it.

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I Was In Prison Newsletter

This ezine, produced by CMN speakers Dale Recinella and Dr. Susan Ward Recinella,  is targeted for people involved in prison ministry or in stopping the death penalty. It provides helpful information for people who are undecided about capital punishment, for those who have never experienced the inside of a jail or prison, and for those who feel called to participate through prayer and adoration.

To learn more and sign up, click here.

Jesus Christ, Capital Defendant

By Mark Osler, Professor of Law, University of St. Thomas

In the Fall of 2000, I moved from Detroit to Waco, Texas, leaving a job as a federal prosecutor to teach at Baylor Law School. There were many changes to adjust to — including the highly Christianized political culture in Texas and the fervent support for the death penalty that has made Texas the centerpiece for capital punishment in the Western world. One day, sitting in church and preparing for communion, the juxtaposition of these two Texan mindsets became clear in my head — the same Texas that held firm for the death penalty also was dominated by a faith that had at its center a wrongful execution. I walked out of church pushing the two ideas together, and soon they meshed. Shortly thereafter, I came up with what might be the worst idea ever by an untenured faculty member at a Baptist university — I would stage the trial of Christ in that Baptist church, under Texas capital punishment rules.

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The Paradox of Pro-Death Catholics

By Alessandro Speciale, La Stampa

Catholic, and supporting capital punishment: it would seem to be a paradox, but – unlike those who favor the legalization of abortion – there are many, especially on the other side of the Atlantic, who publicly support the death penalty while at the same time proclaiming faith in the Roman Church. There is the case, for example, of the Republican candidate seeking the White House, the newly-converted-to-Catholicism Newt Gingrich, who wants to immediately enlarge the number of crimes punishable by death, including drug dealing. But, after the last few weeks in which Pope Benedict XVI clearly came out in support of definitively abolishing capital punishment, the space for positions like this appears to be growing ever smaller.

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Restorative Justice Demands Abolition of the Death Penalty

By George Anderson, S.J. (December 15, 2011) Capital punishment may be on the wane in the United States, but restorative justice demands its total abolition. The current drop in the number of those executed stems from an increased willingness on the part of juries to opt for life without parole rather than a death sentence…. MORE

Still Cruel, Less Usual

By The Editors of the New York Times (December 30, 2010)

The tide continued ebbing on the death penalty this year. States are putting fewer people to death, and juries continue to favor the punishment of life without parole over execution when given the choice. A report released this month by the Death Penalty Information Center counted 46 executions in 2010. That is nearly 12 percent fewer than a year ago, and down sharply from the 85 executions of 2000.

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Vatican Aide: “I Don’t Want the Death Penalty for Anyone”

From Zenit.org

The director of the Vatican press office says he is against recourse to the death penalty, and wants capital punishment for no one anywhere in the world. This was the affirmation made by Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, as he offered his personal reflection on the Church’s opposition to current recourse to capital punishment.

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Victim Advocates Against the Death Penalty

By Andrew Rivas A politician believes that he or shemust run on a pro-death penalty platform, or risk being labeled “soft on crime” and thus unconcerned about victims. This sweeping assumption is wrong. Many family members of victims have argued passionately against the death penalty for their loved one’s killer.

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A Woman Dies

By The Editors of America Magazine When Teresa Lewis was executed on Sept. 23, 2010, she became the first woman to be put to death in Virginia in almost a century. A 41-year-old woman who was borderline retarded, with an IQ of 72, she had married her job supervisor at a textile factory. Her adult stepson in the U.S. Army Reserve took out a $250,000 life insurance policy when he was called to active duty, and he named his father as the beneficiary. Teresa schemed with two young men to kill both father and son for the life insurance. The murder took place in 2002, when her two accomplices, armed with shotguns, entered her trailer and shot both husband and stepson in their beds. Her supporters did not dispute her guilt, nor did she, but they emphasized her mental limitations in an effort to persuade Gov. Robert McDonnell to commute the sentence to life in prison. During the appeals process, two psychiatric experts who examined Ms. Lewis said that she did not have the mental acuity to plan such a murder for hire. Eventually, the case went to the Supreme Court in an effort to block the execution, but the justices declined to halt it.

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Books by Sr. Helen Prejean

Would you like to help Sister Helen’s work and get a copy of one of her books at the same time? You can do so by making a donation to Ministries Against the Death Penalty.

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The Biblical Truth About America’s Death Penalty

By Dale Recinella

The Biblical Truth about America’s Death Penalty is a must-read. It deals with Biblical standards of Capital Punishment and then compares them to the system used in America today. Whatever your persuasion on the issue, this book will teach you a great deal. Recinella is a trained lawyer and committed Christian who now volunteers part-time on Florida’s death row. He thus understands law, the Bible, and the system of execution in America. I challenge anyone who supports the death penalty to read this book. (Review excerpted from Amazon.com)

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Forgiving the Dead Man Walking

By Debbie Morris

Already familiar to readers from the movie Dead Man Walking, this horrifying crime story, related here by one of the victims, becomes an inspiring morality tale of one woman’s redemption. In 1980, Morris, then a 16-year-old high school junior in tiny Madisonville, La., was parked with her boyfriend, Mark Brewster, along the Tchefuncte riverfront sipping a milkshake when two men suddenly appeared. Mark and Debbie were kidnapped: he was tortured and left for dead, while she was terrorized and raped repeatedly. With extraordinary presence of mind, she managed, incredibly, to talk her captors into letting her go. The aftershock, however, lasted for years: her relationship with Mark deteriorated; she dropped out of high school; and she suffered recurring claustrophobic fears. Her abductors, Robert Lee Willie and Joe Vaccaro, were captured, and Debbie aided the prosecution in its successful bid for the death penalty for Willie for the earlier rape/murder of Faith Hathaway. After the trial, she discovered, “Justice doesn’t really heal all the wounds.” Her true path toward healing was hard won: She’s often angry at Sister Helen Prejean’s attentions to Willie (“Where was the help I needed when I felt so alone?”), at her family, at God (“I’d found it easier to forgive Robert Willie than it was to forgive God”). But at the end of a journey that rings true and intensely human, she looks to her husband, son and new life and ceases to see herself as a victim, but instead as a survivor. (Review from Publishers Weekly)

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The Little Books of Justice and Peacebuilding

Edited by Howard Zeir

This series of short books present, in highly accessible form, key concepts and practices from the fields of restorative justice, conflict transformation and peacebuilding. Written by leaders in these fields, they are designed for practitioners, students and anyone interested in justice, peace and conflict resolution.

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Restoring Peace

By Kirk Blackard

Each week crime victims engage in a process of peace and reconciliation with Texas prison inmates who perpetuated similar crimes against others. Restoring Peace shares their process with others interested in mending broken relationships.

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The Seal: A Priest’s Story

By Fr. Timothy J. Mockaitis

The Seal: A Priest’s Story recalls the true story of an outrageous violation of religious liberty which created an unprecedented rift between the powers of Church and State. It was the first time a violation of the seal of confession was alleged in a capital case in the United States, and the first time an attempt was made in court to define a violation of the seal of the confessional as a First Amendment violation.

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What to Do When the Police Leave: A Guide to the First Days of Traumatic Loss

By Bill Jenkins

Sixteen-year-old William Jenkins was on his second day of work when he was shot and killed during a robbery attempt in August 1997. His father, Bill Jenkins, a professor of Speech and Drama at Virginia Union University, quickly found that there were virtually no resources which could answer his many questions as a survivor of a traumatic loss. He began looking for help and found it, after a fashion, scattered in the bookstores, on the Internet, and in support groups and agencies; but nowhere was there a single, concise, practical, and eminently useful resource for bereaved families containing the advice and guidance that he and his family needed following their loss. Several months later, using the information he had collected for his own personal well-being, this experienced teacher and speaker sat down to write the book that he should have received the night he was notified of his son’s death.

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Bridges to Life News Story

Fox News Channel 29 in San Antonio, TX aired 2 news reports featuring the work of the Bridges to Life Restorative Justice Program. Bridges To Life is a faith-based nonprofit 501 (c) 3 corporation founded in November 1998, with a primary mission to reduce crime by reducing the recidivism rate of released inmates. The spiritual mission… MORE

Capital Punishment: The Death of Morality

By the Catholic Conference of Kentucky This two-part video produced by the Catholic Conference of Kentucky offers an introduction to the death penalty. The first video presents, among other things, facts about cost to the taxpayers. The second video examines more closely what Gospel living calls us to in light of capital punishment policy in… MORE

Chaplain on Atlanta’s Death Row

From FOX 5 Atlanta (September 2011) Few people have a better understanding of what life is like on death row than the chaplains who visit with the condemned. FOX 5 Atlanta’s Russ Spencer spoke with Father Austin Fogarty, who goes to the prison in Jackson every week.

Dead Man Walking Trailer

Dead Man Walking tells the story of the transformational relationship between Sr. Sr. Helen Prejean, CSJ and Matthew Poncelet, a prisoner on death row. It is directed by Tim Robbins and features Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn. The film, which came out in 1995, is based on the book of the same name by Sr…. MORE

The Death Penalty: No Justice, No Healing, No Closure

By the Indiana Catholic Conference This video, produced by the Indiana Catholic Conference, examines the death penalty from the perspective of chaplains who work with prisoners on death row. It shares some of the stories of people who are on death row, in their own words, as well. Finally, a parent of a person whose… MORE

Interview With An Executioner

This short video tells the story of Mississippi death row penitentiary superintendent Don Cabana. He shares moving testimony about his experiences in Mississippi and in Florida; he talks of how, ultimately, God would judge him for his role in the execution. Cabana also talks about how he finds transformation occurring in the prisoners who enter… MORE

Into the Abyss

Review By Sr. Kathie Uhler I previewed the film Into the Abyss at a press screening on November 1, 2011. Abyss is a very well-done documentary, I think, beautifully handled cinematically and spiritually by the director, Werner Herzog (who, by the way, directed Cave of Forgotten Dreams, a wonderful documentary on a cave of the most… MORE

It Could Happen to You: The Harold McQueen Story

This video is the story of Harold McQueen, an addict who committed a murder while intoxicated. He spent 17 years on death row as a result of his choices. He movingly shares with viewers some of the changes he would make in his life, if given the chance.  It always helps to remember “it could… MORE

Jesuits On … The Death Penalty

By Loyola Productions In this video, Fr. Greg O’Meara, SJ talks about the history of the death penalty – both its moral history from a Catholic position and its history in the United States. Fr. O’Meara brings the perspective of a former criminal prosecutor, which sheds light on the criminal justice system, and offers a… MORE

Juan Melendez 6446

By Nadia Barbarossa and Rosario Albert Juan Melendez 6446, is a documentary produced for the Civil Rights Commission of Puerto Rico. The film presents the story of Juan Melendez, a Puerto Rican immigrant raised in the city of New York, who was charged in Florida for a murder he did not commit. Juan Melendez was unjustly incarcerated on death row for 17 years, 8 months and 1 day, until his acquittal on January 3, 2002. This short documentary is in… MORE

The Leonel Herrera Story

This video tells the story of Leonel Herrera, a man sentenced to death for the murder of a policeman in southern Texas in the early 1990s. Herrera was eventually found not guilty of the crime. His story reminds us to consider the irreversibility of the death penalty once the sentence is carried out and invites us to… MORE

A Culture of Life and the Penalty of Death

By the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops A Culture of Life and the Penalty of Death stands as a call for the nation to abandon the use of the death penalty and move one step closer to building a culture of life. People like Bud Welch whose daughter died in the Oklahoma City bombing… MORE

Love Lived on Death Row Trailer

By The Brook Films This trailer is for the movie Love Lived on Death Row, which tells the story of Mr. Syriani and Meg Eggleton. Syriani killed his wife of 17 years. He and Eggleton become friends through letter writing while Syriani was on death row; the film also chronicles his children’s fight for a… MORE

Mercy and Justice – On Capital Punishment

By the Sanctity of Life Commission of the Diocese of Brooklyn This video by the Diocese of Brooklyn articulates the Catholic Church’s position on the death penalty. It features an excerpt of Blessed John Paul II speaking about the death penalty in which he encourages all to see the dignity of the human person even… MORE

Our Faith, Our Case Against the Death Penalty

With Bishop Curtis J. Guillory of Texas This video outlines several of the injustices that are inherent in the use of the death penalty. Bishop Curits J. Guillory explains the Catholic teaching about the death penalty. It also features David Atwood, the founder of the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. The video also… MORE

Religious Leaders Dialogue on the Death Penalty: San Antonio

CMN and the Texas Coaltion to Abolish the Death Penalty co-sponsored a “Religious Leaders Dialogue on the Death Penalty” at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas on October 24, 2011. The event was moderated by CMN Executive Director Karen Clifton. Leaders from the following institutions also attended: the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Antonio; Mission… MORE

Sr. Helen Prejean: Three Short Videos on the Death Penalty

Before you begin the first video reflect upon and answer the following questions Have you ever thought about the death penalty before? If so, what did you think? What do you think the Catholic Church teaches about the death penalty?   Video 1: Sanctity of Life Reflection questions for Video 1: Why is it so… MORE

Talking About the Death Penalty

From the Indiana Catholic Conference This video by the Indiana Catholic Conference outlines the Church’s teachings on the death penalty and provides several reflection questions. Sr. Elisabeth Smoyer, SND shares about her relationship with an inmate on death row and how she has seen the face of God. In addition to the principles of Catholic… MORE

“Witness” With Sister Helen Prejean

In this video, Sr. Helen Prejean, CSJ sits down with Fr. Thomas Rosica, CSB to share the journey of her involvement in working to end the use of the death penalty, and the transformative power of Gospel living. The video also discusses the development of Catholic teaching on capital punishment and why anti-death penalty activity… MORE

Knowledge Without Love Is Sterile: The Death Penalty

By Audri Edmonds

Through an analysis based on Catholic social teaching embedded in USCCB documents, this paper investigates how the application of the death penalty in the United States’ legal system uniquely impacts the African American community, and, in particular, how systems of race, poverty and criminal justice cause family deterioration and ultimately lead to the degradation of African American culture.

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