Statement from Krisanne Vaillancourt Murphy on the 200th death row exoneration

For Immediate Release: July 3, 2024
Contact: Moira Greaney at moira@catholicsmobilizing.org
Website: catholicsmobilizing.org Twitter: @CMNEndtheDP

The July 1 exoneration of Larry Roberts in California marks the 200th death row exoneration since 1973. Catholic Mobilizing Network’s Executive Director, Krisanne Vaillancourt Murphy, reacts to this development.

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“As executions and new death sentences continue to decline across the country, the number of exonerations only continues to grow, bringing us to this striking milestone of 200 exonerations in the modern-era of the U.S. death penalty.

The only way to ensure that we do not execute innocent people is to end the irreparably broken system of capital punishment in our country.

Because of the tireless efforts of faithful advocates and committed lawyers, 200 people have now been saved from the threat of execution after being sentenced to death. And while we praise God that these lives have been spared, we also remember the many individuals—both innocent and guilty—who did not, and will not receive the same grace, whose lives are discarded by a system determined to throw them away.

As Catholics, we know that every person is sacred, endowed with an inherent dignity that can never be lost, regardless of the harm one may have suffered or caused.

It’s time to end the death penalty, once and for all.”