June 2015 Philadelphia Chapter of Pax Christi U.S.A.
The Death Penalty
The death penalty has long been a bone of contention among various groups, even within the Catholic Church. Two important articles one in the March 13, 2015 issue of the National Catholic Reporter (NCR) followed by one in the March 26 issue of the New York Times, discuss the death penalty and offer hope for its abolition.
NCR quotes several bishops including Archbishop Charles Chaput who says “…killing the guilty does not honor the dead nor does it enable the living. When we take a guilty person’s life, we only add to the violence … and we demean our own dignity in the process.” The archbishop is right. The sad truth is not all persons on death row are guilty. The Times quotes a conservative Catholic priest, Fr. John McCloskey who wrote: "the Catholic Church’s magisterium does not and has never advocated unqualified abolition of the death penalty.” But what of the writings of Pope John Paul II and Pope Francis? Also from the Times: two conservative and two liberal Roman Catholic publications ran a shared editorial against the death penalty.
Another reason for hope is that the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments stemming from “three high profile problematic executions in three states.” A ruling is expected in June.
Remembering Archbishop's Chaput’s wise words “a society engaged in the practice of killing its citizens for any reason cannot be condoned, especially a society that espouses a belief in Christ.” There are reasons that speak of the injustice of the death penalty. The Witness to Innocence Project lists factors leading to wrongful convictions:
inadequate legal representation;
police and prosecutorial misconduct;
perjured testimony and mistaken eyewitness testimony;
racial prejudice;
jailhouse “snitch” testimony;
suppression and/or misinterpretation of mitigating evidence; and/or
community/political pressure to solve a case.
Another recent study reported in the Philadelphia Inquirer May 12, 2015: “F.B.I. hair analysts made erroneous statements or exaggerated evidence in 96 percent of cases.” One wonders how many persons were put on death row because of faulty hair analysis. A Philadelphia man was “exonerated by DNA testing in 2011 from a 1981 rape and sodomy conviction in which hair analysis was cited.”
Since 1976, when the death penalty was reinstated, 1400 persons have been put to death. As of March 23, 2015 there have been 151 exonerations from death row in 26 different states. By race there were 78 black, 59 white, 12 latino and 2 others.
In her book, “The Death of Innocents”, Sr. Helen Prejean tells of Joseph O’Dell who was executed on July 23, 1997 despite the existence of DNA evidence that could have proved O’Dell’s innocence. The courts refused to consider this new evidence because “Virginia law states that any evidence found after 21 days was inadmissible in proving the innocence of a convicted person.”
Another case of innocence is that of Cameron Todd Willingham who was killed by lethal injection on February 17, 2004. He was falsely convicted of arson which killed his three children. For twelve years he maintained his innocence and refused to plead guilty in return for a life sentence. He was convicted on the basis of “junk science.” In December, 2004 three fire experts were asked to examine the original investigation in the Willingham case. The panel concluded that “Each and every one of the indications of arson had been scientifically proven to be invalid.” It should be mentioned that Governor Perry refused to grant a stay for Willingham. “Gov. Perry based his decision on the facts of the case.”
“The State of Pennsylvania has the fourth highest death row population and we have exonerated twice the number of people we have executed” (The Abolitionist, 2009). Governor Tom Wolf has declared a moratorium on the death penalty until he receives a report from a Task Force on Capital Punishment. He calls the system ineffective, unjust, and expensive … also citing a growing number of inmates who have been exonerated (NCR).
The following quotes indicate the gross injustice of the death penalty:
“Perhaps the bleakest fact of all is that the death penalty is imposed not only in a freakish and discriminating manner but in some cases upon defendants who are actually innocent.” (Late Supreme Court Justice William Brennan)
Barry Scheck of the Innocence Project says “an awful truth about the administration of capital punishment in America is that we won’t or don’t want to believe – procedure arbitrarily trumps substance; maddening incompetence undermines best intentions; racism shames everyone, and innocents are executed.”
No matter how the Supreme Court rules, the death penalty must be abolished. It behooves people of peace to work for the abolition of this flawed, unfair practice.
Mary Lou Grady Mary Lou is a member of CPF
Thank you to Frank McGinty for the death penalty statistics
see:
Catholic Mobilizing Network to End the Use of the Death Penalty