Regardless of where one stands on the death penalty, however, all Catholics must not lose sight of the souls on death row who await the judgment that state-enforced terminations will quicken.
Death Penalty
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
New report shows decreased use of death penalty in U.S.
32 states have now either abolished the death penalty or not carried out an execution in more than a decade
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
Supreme Court leaves temporary stop on federal executions in place
U.S. Attorney General William Barr announced in July that the government was reinstating the federal death penalty
Posted inPolitics & Society, Short Take
We’ve been bishops in 3 death penalty states. It’s time to stop federal executions for good.
A federal judge has placed federal executions on hold. Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory and Bishop Frank J. Dewane write that we should turn back permanently from the path of death.
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
In major shift most Americans now support life in prison over death penalty
The poll showed 60% prefer that convicted murders receive a sentence of life imprisonment, while 36% said capital punishment would be better.
Posted inFaith, News
Japanese boxer formerly on death row attended Pope Francis’ Mass
Japan, the United States and South Korea are the only nations in the OECD group of developed economies that have the death penalty.
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
Judge blocks scheduled executions of federal death-row inmates
A federal judge Nov. 20 temporarily blocked the executions of four federal death-row inmates scheduled for December and January, saying the lethal injections they were to receive goes against the Federal Death Penalty Act.
Posted inArts & Culture, Books
Review: Sister Helen Prejean’s life on death row
Lest the reader assume that Sister Prejean’s work against the death penalty, is the sum total of her story, she spends the final pages of her afterword calling out the places where she sees continued injustices, particularly in the treatment of women and L.G.B.T. people in the church.
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
Catholic leaders decry Barr’s decision to revive federal death penalty
After a nearly two-decade lapse in federal executions, the move, according to a Department of Justice statement to the press, brings “justice to victims of the most horrific crimes.”
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
Court overturns conviction of death-row inmate for jury selection bias
The Supreme Court, citing racial bias in the prosecutor’s jury selection, overturned the death sentence of a Mississippi African American man who had been tried six times for a quadruple murder charge.