Who does not mourn with the families and friends of the victims, and of the many other victims of violence in our communities? Our prayers and our hearts go out to them, and we ask the God of mercy and compassion to take these victims of inhumane and cruel violence to Himself.
This violence is a bloody stain that ripples through our communities and neighborhoods and must be punished. The State of California has a duty to punish the offender and protect the community from further violence.
At the same time we must ask our fellow citizens and ourselves whether the violence of State-ordered executions does not itself contribute to a culture of death in which respect for the dignity and precious worth of every human life is diminished.
We believe that life in prison without the possibility of parole is a just and exacting punishment. We believe that the community would be protected by such punishment and that to continue the cycle of violence by killing those who have killed undermines society’s commitment to respect the God-given dignity of every human person.
Pope John Paul II has given us a moral challenge in the question of Capital Punishment:
…we are called to extend God’s love to all human beings created in his image, including those convicted of serious crimes. In so doing, we can help to make “unconditional respect for life the foundation of a new society”
(The Gospel of Life, no.77).
We join Pope John Paul II in renewing our strong and principled opposition to the death penalty. We oppose capital punishment not just for what it does to those guilty of horrible crimes, but for how it affects society; moreover, we have alternative means today to protect society from violent people. As we said in our Good Friday Appeal to End the Death Penalty, Increasing reliance on the death penalty diminishes us and is a sign of growing disrespect for human life. We cannot overcome crime by simply executing criminals, nor can we restore the lives of the innocent by ending the lives of those convicted of their murders. The death penalty offers the tragic illusion that we can defend life by taking life.
(Responsibility, Rehabilitation, and Restoration, USCCB 2000, p. 31)
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• Approximately 3500 inmates are on death row in 38 state and federal prisons. The largest number, over 600, is in California.
• Since 1973, there have been 117 exonerations of death row inmates.
Recent Supreme Court decisions have limited the use of the death penalty by declaring it unconstitutional to execute persons with mental retardation and juveniles under the age of 18. The court has also ruled that defendants are entitled to have a jury decide whether to impose the death penalty.
• Twelve states do not impose the death penalty. In recent years, attempts to reinstitute its use in several of them (Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin) have so far failed.
• Only two states do not offer life without parole in capital cases (Texas and New Mexico). The U.S. military and the federal government offer life without parole. Additional Reading
Killing the Killer: A Reflection on the Death Penalty by George Wesolek, director of the Archdiocese of San Francisco’s Office of Public Policy and Social Concerns.
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Capital Punishment and Abortion: Do We Promote Life While Imposing Death? by Bishop Blase Cupich, Diocese of Rapid City, Iowa, from an article that first appeared in American Magazine. Used with permission.