Gov. John Bel Edwards, D-La., called for an end to the death penalty in Louisiana during his final State of the State address in an impassioned call for lawmakers to adopt legislative proposals reflecting its identity as a “pro-life state.”
Death Penalty
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
The death penalty’s 2022 lowlight: a record number of botched executions
According to the Death Penalty Information Center: “Seven of the 20 execution attempts were visibly problematic—an astonishing 37 percent—as a result of executioner incompetence, failures to follow protocols, or defects in the protocols themselves.”
Posted inPolitics & Society, Short Take
The Biden administration must vote to abolish the death penalty at the U.N. this week
Why would President Biden—who has done so much to repair America’s alliances abroad—have us side with Iran, Saudi Arabia and North Korea in voting for continued use of the death penalty in the world?
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
In Bahrain, Pope Francis calls for full religious freedom and an end to the death penalty
Commitments to protect tolerance and religious freedom need to be put into practice constantly so that these rights may be fully experienced, Pope Francis said.
Posted inPodcasts, Politics & Society
The death penalty promises retribution. Restorative justice offers healing.
To kick off October’s “Respect Life” month on “The Gloria Purvis Podcast,” Gloria speaks with Krisanne Vaillancourt Murphy about how a Catholic vision of restorative justice must guide our advocacy against the death penalty.
Posted inPolitics & Society, Short Take
Archbishop Cordileone: It is past time to strike down the death penalty
Pope Francis has asked Catholics to pray this September for an end to the death penalty, and we should ask ourselves a key question: Is it really necessary to kill in order to protect society?
Posted inFaith, News
Pope Francis’ special prayer intention for September: Ending the death penalty
“Capital punishment offers no justice to victims, but rather encourages revenge. And it prevents any possibility of undoing a possible miscarriage of justice,” the pope said in a video message Aug. 31.
Posted inFaith, Faith in Focus
The Parkland shooter, the death penalty and the limits of human compassion
It is right and just to feel anger at people like the Parkland shooter. What do we do with that anger, though?
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
Sister Helen Prejean on Oklahoma’s unprecedented rush to execute 25 people
“This rush to execute would be reckless in any state, but Oklahoma in particular has a horrendous track record for problematic executions.”
Posted inFaith, Short Take
Good Friday is the perfect day to commit to ending the death penalty
Why is it that so many of us shed tears in remembering Christ’s execution on Good Friday yet condone the state-sanctioned killing of our neighbors throughout the rest of the year?