Capital Punishment

[Del]

+JMJ+

Source: National Catholic Reporter
Link: ncronline DOT org/news/floridas-catholic-bishops-again-urge-desantis-stay-execution

Florida's Catholic bishops again urge DeSantis to stay an execution

Fishwrap fails to describe or provide a link to the crimes Duane Owen committed.
https://news.yahoo.com/duane-owen-murde ... 03251.html

Karen Slattery, 14, loved being a babysitter and was much in demand. The Pope John Paul High freshman was also a diving star, scheduled to try out for the U.S. team.

She'd just had her braces off in March 1984 when her life ended in horrendous fashion.

Duane Owen cut through a bedroom screen at a home where the teen was watching a 7-year-old and 3-year-old and confronted her in the kitchen. She had called her mom at 10 p.m. but was dead by 12:30 when the children's parents found her. Owen had stabbed the girl 18 times then raped her. The children were unharmed.

About two months later, Georgianna Worden, 38, an executive secretary and mother of two children who was separated from her husband, was sleeping when she awoke to a hammer coming down on her head. Owen struck her four more times on the head and face. He also raped her after he got into the Boca Raton home in May 1984. Court documents say she may have been alive up to an hour after the first blow.

Her 13-year-old daughter found Worden, posed, the next morning before she went to school.

Both were not Owens' only victims. Two Boca Raton women were hit in their homes with blunt objects – a plumber's wrench and an clothing iron – but they survived.

Then the appeals began. Owen said police officers improperly "Mirandized" him. He got a new trial in 1999 in Slattery's death where he claimed he was insane, looking for hormones that night so he could become a woman. The jury didn't buy it and sentenced him again to death.

DeSantis is in a difficult position, politically. He is quietly and humbly Catholic, and he may personally be sympathetic to the bishops' plea.

But he is also an elected public servant, and the People of Florida are fed up with the lax policies and high crime resulting from Democrat policies that fail to prosecute and jail criminals.

If Catholic Democrats had raised their voices courageously to defend the millions of innocent children killed under their regimes, perhaps DeSantis could extend some undeserved mercy to one disgustingly guilty murderer. Unfortunately, Democrats have firmly cemented the precedent that a weak politician with any moral stance must ignore this and submit to "the will of the People."

[Wosbald]

+JMJ+

Source: National Catholic Reporter / OSV News
Link: ncronline DOT org/news/federal-death-penalty-ban-reintroduced-congress

Federal death penalty ban reintroduced in Congress

〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰

Washington — A bill to ban the use of capital punishment by the federal government was reintroduced in Congress, where it faces steep odds for passage.

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., who is also Senate majority whip and chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee; and Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., reintroduced July 13 their bill, the Federal Death Penalty Prohibition Act, bicameral legislation that would prohibit the use of the death penalty at the federal level and require re-sentencing for those individuals currently on death row.

In a statement, Durbin called the death penalty "deeply flawed and disproportionately imposed on Black and Brown and low-income people in America."

"Our bill follows the lead of 23 states, including Illinois, by finally putting an end to this failed and unjust policy at the federal level," Durbin said. "I thank Congresswoman Pressley and our colleagues who are joining us in this effort."

In her own statement, Pressley said, "State-sanctioned murder is not justice, and it's time we abolish the cruel, racist, and fundamentally flawed death penalty that has been weaponized against Black, brown and low-income people for far too long."

"With momentum growing across the country, Congress must follow suit and pass our bill to end the federal death penalty once and for all," Pressley said. "I'm grateful to Chairman Durbin and our movement partners for their continued partnership and commitment to getting this done."

[…]

A spokesperson for the U.S. bishop’s conference told OSV News the group plans to support the bill. The conference also supported previous versions of the legislation.

Krisanne Vaillancourt Murphy, executive director of Catholic Mobilizing Network, a national Catholic organization working to end the death penalty and one of the groups supporting the bill, said in a statement that if passed, the bill "would eradicate the flawed and morally bankrupt federal death penalty system."

"As Catholics who believe in the inviolability of human dignity, we understand that we cannot build a culture of life with a federal government that can put people to death," she said. "This legislation opens up the possibility for more healing and life-affirming forms of justice."

Vaillancourt Murphy said it was "this very month three years ago that the Trump administration broke a 17-year hiatus from federal executions and took the life of Daniel Lewis Lee."

"In the six months that followed, the administration went on to kill a dozen more people, disregarding ample evidence that the federal death penalty system is racially biased, arbitrary, and fraught with errors," she said. "This shocking backslide into executions tarnished any claim the administration made to be 'pro-life.'"

"There is little doubt that capital punishment will one day be abolished in the United States, but time is of the essence," Vaillancourt Murphy continued. "As long as executions are legal, human lives are on the line. It's time for Congress to exert the political will and moral courage needed to abolish the federal death penalty once and for all."

Although President Joe Biden promised as a candidate that he would end the federal death penalty, the bill faces steep odds in Congress, where a Republican-controlled House is likely to oppose it. But the bill also faces difficult odds in the Democratically-controlled Senate, where it would need the support of 60 senators to clear the upper chamber's filibuster rule.

[Del]

+JMJ+

Source: National Catholic Reporter / OSV News
Link: ncronline DOT org/news/federal-death-penalty-ban-reintroduced-congress

Federal death penalty ban reintroduced in Congress

Make this a "Death Penalty and Abortion Ban," and you've got a deal.

[Wosbald]

+JMJ+

Source: National Catholic Reporter / RNS
Link: ncronline DOT org/vatican/vatican-news/vatican-other-faith-leaders-join-push-end-death-penalty-louisiana

Vatican, other faith leaders join in push for end of death penalty in Louisiana

〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰

RNS — The Vatican has joined U.S. faith leaders and anti-death penalty activists in supporting the Louisiana governor's desire to clear the death row cells in his state.

Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Catholic Democrat, called in August for the Louisiana Board of Pardons to reconsider applications for clemency of 56 prisoners on the state's death row. While the state has only executed one person in two decades, Louisiana, along with 26 other states in the U.S., still permits the death penalty.

Twenty applications have been scheduled for clemency hearings in the next two months by the Louisiana Board of Pardons. Only one person on death row is not among the state's clemency requests, NPR reported.

"Much like you, the Catholic Church believes that our society can only benefit from the rehabilitation of individuals who have been convicted of crimes," wrote Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of the Vatican's Pontifical Academy for Life, in a Sept. 26 letter. "We respectfully urge you to exercise all powers vested in your office to encourage the Board of Pardons to docket the 36 remaining applicants."

Paglia added: "We think that the clearing of Louisiana's death row would be a monumental step towards the abolition of the death penalty, that would deserve to be also an example to other states."

[…]

In his last state of the state address to Louisiana’s Legislature in April, Edwards, whose term ends in January, called for the first time on its members to eliminate the state’s death penalty.

"We all know our criminal justice system is far from perfect — but the death penalty is final," he said. "We know in 2023 the death penalty isn't necessary for public safety; and perhaps most importantly, it is wholly inconsistent with Louisiana's pro-life values as it quite literally by definition promotes a culture of death."

He expressed support for legislation introduced by Democratic state Rep. Kyle Green that later was defeated.

"We had many people testify in the Louisiana House of Representatives in favor of a change in state law, but that bill never got out of committee," New Orleans Catholic Archbishop Gregory Aymond told his archdiocesan newspaper in a recent interview. "We will continue to advocate for the end to capital punishment in the state."

[…]

Krisanne Vaillancourt Murphy, executive director of the Catholic Mobilizing Network, joined the Vatican agency in supporting the governor's efforts against capital punishment.

"The last lethal injection in Louisiana took place in 2010," she said. "It is long past time for Louisiana to take capital punishment off its books."

[Wosbald]

+JMJ+

Source: Crux
Link: cruxnow DOT com/church-in-the-usa/2023/10/florida-executes-murderer-abuse-victim-despite-appeal-from-catholic-bishops

Florida executes murderer, abuse victim despite appeal from Catholic bishops

〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰

NEW YORK — In a final statement before his execution Tuesday night, Florida death row inmate Michael Zack III said he made no excuses for the crimes he committed, but said he wished he could have had “a second chance, to live out my days in prison and continue to do all I can to make a difference in this world.”

Zack’s request for a stay of his execution in favor of a life in prison is precisely what the state’s Catholic bishops asked Governor Ron DeSantis to consider last month, to no avail. Zack was executed by lethal injection on Oct. 3 at Florida State Prison, and pronounced dead at 6:14 p.m.

His final words were, “I love you all.”

Zack, 54, killed two Florida women, Laura Rosillo and Ravonne Smith, in 1996. Smith was a bar employee he befriended, whom he later beat and stabbed to death with an oyster knife. Days later, he met Rosillo at a bar in a nearby county, invited her to the beach to do drugs, and eventually beat her to death as well. He was sentenced to death for Smith’s murder and to life in prison for Rosillo’s.

In a Sept. 11 letter to DeSantis on behalf of Florida’s eight bishops, Michael Sheedy, the executive director of the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops, acknowledged that Zack’s “heinous and horrific crimes against these women have caused untold suffering to their families, friends, and communities,” but argued that intentionally ending his life was “unnecessary.”

As an alternative punishment, Sheedy called for Zack to spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole.

“In taking the life of Mr. Zack, the state will do nothing to restore the victims’ lives. Rather, state-sanctioned killing will only further fuel the growing societal disrespect for the dignity of human life,” Sheedy wrote. “The death penalty merely perpetuates the cycles of violence and vengeance that permeate our culture. Intentionally ending Mr. Zack’s life is unnecessary.”

“In our modern penal system, no one should be executed,” Sheedy said.

Bishop Emeritus Felipe Estévez of St. Augustine and other anti-death penalty advocates gathered outside of Florida State Prison for a vigil for Michael Zack. The vigil was led by the Catholic Mobilizing Network, an organization that advocates against the death penalty nationwide.

“We stand in solidarity with all of those throughout the state of Florida who are holding vigils, protesting, and bearing witness to the sanctity of [Michael Zack’s] life,” the organization said in a statement.

[…]

Zack’s execution was the eighth under DeSantis since 2019, and the sixth this year. There were no executions carried out in the state between 2020 and 2022. However, Florida has the second most inmates on death row in the country after California with 291, according to the Florida Department of Corrections.

DeSantis signed Zack’s death warrant on Aug. 17.

“And finally, to Governor DeSantis and the Clemency Board: I love you. I forgive you. I pray for you,” Zack said at the close of his final statement ahead of his execution.

[Del]

+JMJ+

Source: Crux
Link: cruxnow DOT com/church-in-the-usa/2023/10/florida-executes-murderer-abuse-victim-despite-appeal-from-catholic-bishops

Florida executes murderer, abuse victim despite appeal from Catholic bishops

Let's end the death penalty with a word of advice to evil-doers: Don't serial-murder women and/or children in Florida.

[Hovannes]

Gruesome Newsom did away with State sponsored capital punishment in CA.,
however private sector capital punishment, i.e. murder, is still quite popular and eagerly committed by gangs, cartels, and motivated psychos.
Explain please, exactly what the difference is?
I'd like to pass this info on to the grieving mother of one of my son's friends.

[Wosbald]

+JMJ+

Gruesome Newsom did away with State sponsored capital punishment in CA.,
however private sector capital punishment, i.e. murder, is still quite popular and eagerly committed by gangs, cartels, and motivated psychos.
Explain please, exactly what the difference is?
I'd like to pass this info on to the grieving mother of one of my son's friends.

I would say that the standpoint of "well, the criminal does it, so why can't (for lack of a better word) 'we' do it?" proves too much.

IOW, isn't ir the conceit that "we" are s'posed to be better than the criminal? That "we" hold ourselves to a higher standard?

[Hovannes]

+JMJ+

Gruesome Newsom did away with State sponsored capital punishment in CA.,
however private sector capital punishment, i.e. murder, is still quite popular and eagerly committed by gangs, cartels, and motivated psychos.
Explain please, exactly what the difference is?
I'd like to pass this info on to the grieving mother of one of my son's friends.

I would say that the standpoint of "well, the criminal does it, so why can't (for lack of a better word) 'we' do it?" proves too much.

IOW, isn't ir the conceit that "we" are s'posed to be better than the criminal? That "we" hold ourselves to a higher standard?

Is this supposed to somehow comfort the poor grieving woman?

[Wosbald]

+JMJ+

Gruesome Newsom did away with State sponsored capital punishment in CA.,
however private sector capital punishment, i.e. murder, is still quite popular and eagerly committed by gangs, cartels, and motivated psychos.
Explain please, exactly what the difference is?
I'd like to pass this info on to the grieving mother of one of my son's friends.

I would say that the standpoint of "well, the criminal does it, so why can't (for lack of a better word) 'we' do it?" proves too much.

IOW, isn't ir the conceit that "we" are s'posed to be better than the criminal? That "we" hold ourselves to a higher standard?

Is this supposed to somehow comfort the poor grieving woman?

You asked what the difference was, not what platitude was apropos.