Bishop: Cease NY death penalty

Bishop Howard J. Hubbard spoke out forcefully against capital punishment during Jan. 26 testimony at a joint hearing of the State Assembly's Codes, Judiciary and Corrections committees, which are studying New York's death penalty law.

The state's 1995 death penalty law was ruled unconstitutional in June by the state's Court of Appeals; the Legislature has been examining whether and how to reinstate it.

Bishop Hubbard was representing his fellow bishops in eight dioceses throughout New York State. He is chairman of the New York State Catholic Conference's Public Policy Committee. The Conference represents all the bishops of New York in matters of public policy.

Victims first

Beginning by speaking about victims, Bishop Hubbard noted that "time and again in the course of my 41 years of priestly ministry, I have listened to the heart-wrenching stories of mothers, fathers, husbands and wives who have lost their beloved sons, daughters, brothers and sisters to violent crime. They share...grief that is too deep for words."

The Bishop also inserted a personal note about his nephew, "who is a New York State trooper. Each time he goes on duty, his life is on the line, and his wife and four children are in danger of losing a husband and father. So, in offering testimony today, I am not unaware of the danger law enforcement agents and their families experience, of the trauma of victims' families, nor of the fear of the general community in the face of violent crime."

Faith perspective

Bishop Hubbard told the lawmakers that "my experience and my faith lead me to conclude that while justice most certainly demands corrective punishment for those who have done grave harm, we as a civilized people must not resort to vengeance, which is not only unhealthy to our society but ultimately unsatisfying for those who have been harmed.

"Victims of violence, struggling to overcome their enormous loss and fear, can find some sense of peace only through reconciliation and non-violence."

Outlining Church teaching on the death penalty, the Bishop quoted the Catechism of the Catholic Church and Pope John Paul II's hope "that there no longer be recourse to capital punishment, given that states today have the means to efficaciously control crime, without definitively taking away an offender's possibility to redeem himself."

'Affront'

Lauding the lawmakers for "holding these hearings to examine the complexities, nuances and moral dimensions of capital punishment," the Bishop declared: "The death penalty is an affront to the human dignity of both those on whom it is inflicted and those in whose name it is employed.

"A state-sanctioned penalty of death makes the individual on whom it is inflicted a means to an end -- a means of satisfying a desire for revenge. Human persons, because of their absolute and unconditional value, should never be used as a means.

"We as a state and nation cannot teach that killing is wrong by killing. Capital punishment is not and cannot be the way for a humane and civilized society to deal with the very real problem of violent crime. For violence only begets violence, and this vicious cycle diminishes us all innocent and guilty alike. Thus, we urge New York State government to...abandon the state-sanctioned penalty of death."

Alternatives

Outlining alternatives to capital punishment, the Bishop asserted that:

* the correctional system "can adequately safeguard the public through confinement and habilitation of offenders";

* victims must have "assurance of corrective punishment for those who have done them harm, just compensation when feasible, and a loving invitation to healing and forgiveness"; and

* offenders should have "access to rehabilitation programs, healing and restoration where feasible, and post-incarceration programs to assist with re-integration into society."

Dangers

Bishop Hubbard said that if the death penalty is not outlawed in the state, it will be subject to the bishops' "many concerns" over such issues as "wrongful convictions; the risk of arbitrary, discriminatory or inequitable application; appropriate stewardship of the state's limited financial and judicial resources; and adequate safeguards to protect the mentally ill, the retarded and juveniles."

Even if those issues were addressed, however, the Bishop noted that "there is no way the death penalty could be reinstated in a manner which resolves our primary ethical concern....Capital punishment is simply unwarranted and inconsistent with the Catholic Church's vision of the sacred, inviolable dignity of the human person, and the need to recognize the possibility of redemption and conversion. We seek a society of justice and peace, not vengeance and violence."

In concluding, Bishop Hubbard asked he legislators "to embrace the wisdom of Pope John Paul II by rejecting the culture of death and embracing a culture of life."

(1/27/05)