Press Statement: Catholic death penalty abolitionists act to stem regressive tide

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Christine Moore at 469-688-5683, christine@catholicsmobilizing.org

WASHINGTON, Sept. 23, 2024 — Catholic Mobilizing Network (CMN) is organizing its nationwide network of faithful advocates to oppose a regressive tide of state executions that includes a weeklong span of five executions in five different states that began Friday in South Carolina, where Freddie “Khalil” Owens died by lethal injection in a state that had not carried out capital punishment in 13 years.

“Simply stated, instead of offering real justice or authentic healing that victims and communities need and desire, executions endorse and perpetuate the cycle of violence,” CMN Executive Director Krisanne Vaillancourt Murphy said. “As Catholics, we believe in the dignity of all human life, no matter the harm one has caused or suffered. In the face of such death-dealing this week, we have a sacred responsibility and the moral agency to usher in the change we seek. With October’s Respect Life Month on the horizon and the global World Day Against the Death Penalty coming up on October 10, Catholics have a timely opportunity to proclaim that each of us is made in God’s image. From campuses to corner stores, from the pews and pulpits, as people of faith and hope, we must shine our light ever brighter in this present darkness. Together, we not only can turn back this regressive tide but also generate such a groundswell that a tipping point comes to wipe out the unholy and unjust use of state-sponsored killing in America once and for all.”

According to the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC):

  • In 2023, there were 24 executions in five states: Texas, Florida, Missouri, Oklahoma and Alabama. 
  • To date in 2024, 11 states have scheduled executions: Idaho, Ohio, Utah, South Carolina, Indiana and Georgia joining Texas, Florida, Missouri, Oklahoma and Alabama. Idaho attempted an execution that was unsuccessful, while Ohio has set executions that are being rescheduled due to a moratorium.
  • The majority of states (29) have now either abolished the death penalty or paused executions by executive action. 

“The five scheduled executions in the month of September display the horrific injustice that runs rampant throughout this system of capital punishment. Several of the five individuals facing execution have histories of extreme trauma and abuse, or diagnoses of severe mental illness. One is a Black man who was sentenced by an all-white jury. Two men hold strong claims of innocence. And one of the men scheduled to be executed previously survived a failed execution attempt at the hands of the state.

“One can easily speculate that the uptick in executions as well as efforts to expand the use of capital punishment in certain states could be for reasons of political manipulation or signaling during an election season. Politicians are known to wield the death penalty as a political tool to appear ‘tough on crime,’ treating people on death row like political pawns. We are calling on Catholics across the country, and especially in these five states, to urge decision-makers to stop these executions.”

“The death penalty is contrary to human dignity, immoral, flawed, arbitrary, and useless as a deterrent to crime,” Vaillancourt Murphy said. “Mobilizing Catholics for advocacy has substantial potential to advance progress toward death penalty abolition. Catholics, comprising 22% of the U.S. population, hold significant influence, particularly in key death penalty states with large Catholic populations.”

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Catholic Mobilizing Network is a national organization that mobilizes Catholics and all people of goodwill to value life over death, to end the use of the death penalty, to transform the U.S. criminal justice system from punitive to restorative, and to build capacity in U.S. society to engage in restorative practices.

For more information about CMN, visit catholics mobilizing.org.

For advocacy actions underway, visit catholicsmobilizing.org/our-work/death-penalty/executions/.

For prayer resources, including information about our prayer vigils and our 2024 Novena to End the Death Penalty, visit https://catholicsmobilizing.org/our-work/death-penalty/prayer-vigils/.