Capital punishment is a problematic system. This reality has been highlighted in the past quarter through individual cases and developments within our states. Individuals have been executed despite clear racial bias and strong claims of innocence. And several states have resumed executions after years without them.

In the face of these increasing executions and relapsing states, our advocacy to abolish the death penalty must remain firm. Catholic Mobilizing Network is committed to doing just that.

Check out all of the developments that we are following below, and learn how you can be involved in death penalty abolition.

By the Numbers

23 non-death penalty states

27 death penalty states, 6 of which have paused executions

200 exonerations and 1600 executions since 1973

19 executions in 2024 carried out across 8 states

EXECUTIONS

Since July, 10 executions have been carried out in seven states. This brought the year’s total from nine to 19.

Five of these executions took place over the span of just one week. The alarming pace of executions was unlike anything we’ve seen in decades, bringing the number of executions to 1600 since the death penalty was reinstated in 1973.

This shocking total has been reached despite public opinion polls showing growing concerns about the fairness and accuracy of the death penalty and declining support for its use.

It’s common to witness an increase of executions during election cycles, when politicians use the lives of people on death row as pawns to appear “tough on crime.”

RESUMING STATES

Several states are taking the regressive steps to resume executions after years without them.

Utah executed Taberon Honie on August 8 after 14 years without an execution. Most Rev. Oscar Solis, Bishop of Salt Lake City, released a statement saying, “Any time we allow the intentional destruction of life, we destroy respect for all life.”
- It’s a misconception that the death penalty is cheaper than life in prison. A 2012 Utah review found that death penalty cases cost about $1.6 million more than life-without-parole cases.
- For Mr. Honie’s execution alone, Utah spent $200,000 for drugs, $60,000 for medical costs, $11,000 for personnel, and $17,000 for event expenses. Utah spent as much on this one execution as it would on 14 grants to first-time homebuyers, healthcare for 38 people, or a year of education for 65 students.
South Carolina executed Freddie “Khalil” Owens on September 20 after 13 years without an execution. In 2023, the state passed a new law to provide secrecy to any company or entity who participates in an execution, including those who provide the drugs. South Carolina also maintains the electric chair and the firing squad (added in 2021) as alternative methods of execution.
- Mr. Owens was given the option to choose between these three methods of execution. Doing so, he said, would be participating in his own death, which is contrary to his Muslim faith. He elected to have his legal counsel choose for him instead.
- South Carolina is scheduling more executions to come, and will potentially execute one person every 35 days.
Indiana is scheduled to execute Joseph Corcoran on December 18. If carried out, it would be the state’s first execution in 15 years.

SPOTLIGHTING INJUSTICES

Loran Cole’s history highlights the reality of trauma and abuse that is present in many death penalty cases. Mr. Cole was a victim of horrific abuse at the notorious, state-run Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys. Gov. DeSantis recently signed a compensation program into law which recognizes the significant effect of abuse at this school. But Mr. Cole received no compensation or recognition for the effect this abuse had on him. Instead, the state executed him on August 29.
Marcellus Williams’s case highlights the flaws in the death penalty system, which risks innocent life. Mr. Williams’s long-held claim of innocence garnered significant support. But a deal to reduce his sentence to life in prison, backed by the victim’s family, was blocked by the Missouri Attorney General, despite the county attorney admitting constitutional errors in his conviction. Even though there was reason to believe he was innocent, the state executed Mr. Williams on September 24.
Emmanuel Littlejohn’s case exposes racial bias in the U.S. capital punishment system. Mr. Littlejohn was sent to death row by an all-white jury while his co-defendant received life in prison. The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board recommended that Mr. Littlejohn be granted clemency. Despite this recommendation, Gov. Kevin Stitt refused to intervene, and the state executed him on September 26.

FEDERAL DEATH PENALTY

As the presidential elections get closer, the question of the federal death penalty rises to the surface. This year, the Democratic Party did not include death penalty abolition on its national platform. It was the first time in years that the issue was absent from the platform.

The Republican candidate spearheaded the 2020 spree of federal executions that broke a 17-year hiatus of federal executions, taking the lives of 13 individuals in the span of 6 months.

CMN hosted a webinar to answer questions like: What is the status of the federal death penalty? What is at stake at this moment? And what can we do about it?

[WEBINAR RECORDING] The Federal Death Penalty: What’s at stake?

GOOD NEWS

Ruben Gutierrez received a rare stay of execution from the United States Supreme Court just 20 minutes before his lethal injection was scheduled to begin.
California passed a death penalty reform measure (SB 1001) which ensures that people with intellectual disabilities will never be subject to capital punishment.
Delaware officially removed the death penalty from the state’s law. The Supreme Court had found capital punishment to be unconstitutional in 2016, which effectively abolished the practice. This step affirms that life in prison without parole is the most severe punishment handed down in the state.

WORLD DAY AGAINST THE DEATH PENALTY

People around the world unite their voices on October 10 every year to commemorate World Day Against the Death Penalty. This day falls squarely within the U.S. Catholic Church’s Respect Life Month, celebrated each October, reminding each of us that the death penalty is an issue of life.

Faithful advocates gathered throughout the U.S. on Oct. 10 to host events in honor of World Day Against the Death Penalty
CMN honored the day with the Justice Reimagined Awards & Celebration, hosted at the Vatican Embassy in Washington, DC.
- The evening’s awardees were Witness to Innocence, an organization of exonerated death row survivors fighting to end the death penalty, and Dale Recinella, an author and long-time prison minister for the men on Florida’s death row

IN MEMORIAM

“If they tell you you can’t change, don’t listen to them. To all my brothers and sisters here, continue to change. I love you all; take care”

—An excerpt from the final words of Taberon Honie, executed by the state of Utah on August 8, 2024

We pray for those who have been executed these past three months: Keith Gavin (AL), Arthur Burton (TX), Taberon Honie (UT), Loran Cole (FL), Freddie “Khalil” Owens (SC), Marcellus “Khaliifah” Williams (MO), Travis Mullis (TX), Emmanuel Littlejohn (OK), Alan Miller (AL), and Garcia White (TX).

We also pray in a special way for the victims who lost their lives to acts of violence.