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

About the Webinar

In this webinar, you’ll hear from Catholic Mobilizing Network, a lawyer with decades of experience litigating capital cases as a defense attorney, and a religious sister who has provided spiritual accompaniment for individuals residing on the federal death row in Terre Haute, Indiana—even accompaniment to their execution. Our featured speakers will 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?

Featured Speakers

Ruth Friedman has dedicated her career to fighting for the rights and lives of men and women sentenced to death, working first on behalf of state-sentenced people in Alabama and Georgia and then for those facing execution in the nation’s federal criminal courts. She is the founding director of the Federal Capital Habeas (or “§ 2255”) Project established by the federal public defender program in 2006 to assist those condemned to die in the federal system.

Under Ruth’s leadership, the § 2255 Project has recruited and supported counsel in nearly every federal death row case while also providing direct representation and has become the central resource on federal post-conviction litigation and practice, data, policy analysis, and strategic assistance on the implementation of the federal death penalty.

Sister Barbara Battista is a self-described Euro-descended White person of privilege serving as Justice Promoter for her Congregation of the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods Indiana. She works to promote human and other-than-human thriving by: advocating to abolish the death penalty; educating primarily White folks to advance racial equity and equality for all peoples; promoting climate justice in the Wabash Valley and beyond. Camping, kayaking, and hiking are her favorite methods for rest and renewal.