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From the Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation office of the U.S. ProvinceMoratorium on the Death Penalty
During his 1999 U.S. visit, Pope John Paul II urged Americans to put an end to capital punishment: "I renew the appeal I made most recently at Christmas for a consensus to end the death penalty, which is both cruel and unnecessary." In direct response to the pope's call for forgiveness and mercy, then-Missouri governor Mel Carnahan commuted the death sentence of Darrell Mease, whose execution date was days away. In light of the need to continue the example set by Pope John Paul 11, and in response to the call in Albuquerque for our ministries to become more involved in the international movement for a death penalty moratorium, we ask that you go to the indicated web sites and read the material on those pages. Hopefully, these materials will provoke both discussion and action on how we can uphold the dignity of all life and oppose violence in our society. Our province made an initial step last year, when we signed the resolution sponsored by the Equal Justice USA campaign calling for governors and members of Congress to adopt legislation imposing a moratorium on executions. Now it is time for us to further commit to working for the campaign in our communities. Currently, momentum is gaining to end the death penalty in America. A survey, conducted for The Justice Project by Peter Hart Research, a Democratic Research firm, and American Viewpoint, a Republican research firm, found 80% of Americans support reforming or abolishing the death penalty, and 64% support suspending executions entirely until issues of fairness in capital punishment can be resolved. Although organizations such as Amnesty International and the American Civil Liberties Union have fought for decades to end this racist, elitist and immoral practice, the plight of those on Death Row did not inspire a public outcry in the United States until the fall of 1999. This anger over the failure of capital punishment in the U.S. resulted from a groundbreaking Chicago Tribune investigation (see articles) that revealed vast discrepancies and corruption in the criminal justice system.
Please use this information to invite others to action, including signing the petition sponsored by the Moratorium 2000 campaign and urging them to contact their elected officials. If you would like additional information or resources on the death penalty moratorium, please do not hesitate to contact our office: Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Office For further information on the web: Moratorium2000: www.moratorium2000.org (you can sign the petition at this site) Amnesty International (in the U.S.): www.amnestyusa.org National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty: www.ncadp.org Equal Justice USA: www.quixote.org/ej Recommended Reading Death Row justice derailed... an article from the Chicago Tribune Flawed trials lead to death chamber... an article from the Chicago Tribune DeadMan Walking by Sister Helen Prejean Who Owns Death?: Capital Punishment, the American Conscience, and the End of Executions by Greg Mitchell and Robert J. Lifton. |
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the
reinstatement of capital punishment in America. Since 1976, 689 men and women
have been put to death at the hands of the states and the federal government,
and another 3,500 persons currently await execution on Death Row. A drastically
disproportionate amount of those on Death Row are African American and Hispanic
males, 90% of whom are too poor to pay for their own defense in their capital
cases. The national controversy over capital punishment has heightened over the
past several months as it is estimated that one in eight of those executed are
innocent. Additionally, the problem of the death penalty in America takes on
increased gravity in our communities, as the states of Texas, Florida and
California account for 44% of the nation's executions. 
For the first time in a
quarter century, there is a tangible opportunity to halt capital punishment in
America. We invite you to become better acquainted with the issue through the
articles, fact sheets and Bishops' statement included with this letter. Armed
with the facts, and more importantly, a moral voice, there is much we can do to
further the call for moratorium.