April 6, 2018 at 1:53 p.m.
DEATH PENALTY
Capital punishment: What do dwindling numbers mean?
Gallup polls show support for the death penalty at a 39-year low. Moreover, last year was the first time in more than three decades when fewer than 100 people were sent to death row, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. Since 1999, the number of death sentences per year has dropped dramatically.
But while most European and North, Central and South American countries have abolished the death penalty, the United States has not.
New York State, whose death penalty statute was struck down as unconstitutional in 2004 after an erratic history, reduced its last death sentence to life in prison in 2007 and later removed execution equipment from its facilities.
But New York hasn't legislatively abolished the sentence, and the New York State Catholic Conference wants to change that. The Catholic Conference advocates on behalf of the state's bishops on public policy issues.
More than laws
Lobbying by Catholics "wasn't just about making it illegal," said Kathleen Gallagher, director of pro-life activities for the Catholic Conference. "It was about making it unthinkable."
Mrs. Gallagher said that Blessed Pope John Paul II's 1995 encyclical - combined with a growing awareness of capital punishment's weaknesses - swayed both public opinion and that of state lawmakers.
In the mid-2000s, when conference members lobbied to prevent New York State's statute from returning, she said, "It's almost like we didn't have to try [as] hard as we did in the [19]90s, because the death penalty found dwindling support among formerly pro-death penalty members."
The late pope, Mrs. Gallagher recalled, called the practice "cruel and unnecessary - and I think that's a very powerful statement. Our challenge as pro-life advocates is to make other threats to human life cruel and unnecessary."
Public support for abortion and the number of abortions are also fading, she pointed out: "You definitely see a shift toward the pro-life point of view."
Mrs. Gallagher said death penalty statistics are similarly encouraging "because it is part of the culture of death that we've moved away from. I think that bodes well for shifting on other issues," although progress on subjects like euthanasia is unclear.
Mrs. Gallagher hopes that, just as death penalty abolition catches on across states, the regulation and restriction of abortion will catch on, too.
Deacon's view
Deacon Randy Velez, who serves at St. Mary's parish in Cooperstown and volunteers with the ecumenical Jail Ministry of Otsego County, agreed that the polls are promising to pro-life Catholics.
"People are becoming more educated about this," Deacon Velez said. "I mean, Jesus was executed, and he was innocent. The key is to ask yourself, 'Do we really have the right to make this decision?'
"Our legal system does not guarantee justice; our legal system guarantees process," he continued. "That's very shaky ground. My concern is if one innocent person is executed, you can't [have capital punishment].
"The institution of a process doesn't make it right. Life is a gift from God, and we are not competent to interfere with that because we don't understand God's wisdom."
Death penalty opponents often point to high costs, racial disparities, frequent death row exonerations and the inability of the penalty to deter crimes. "I don't see that capital punishment accomplishes the objectives that society sets out for it," Deacon Velez concluded. "I don't think the death penalty is a deterrent anywhere."
Why crimes occur
Deacon Velez, who visits inmates weekly, has learned that criminals act out of desperation and need to learn positive ways to resolve issues. The deterrent, he said, "has to be helping people to be able to come to grips with the reality of their lives. [I tell them], 'God is giving you a time out. You have a chance now to think about how it's going to be different when you get out.'"
Mrs. Gallagher said that Catholics, in addition to lobbying and advocating for change, should volunteer in criminal justice facilities and promote alternatives to incarceration: "The Church isn't only about opposing things."
Still, challenges remain in the fight to abolish the death penalty, including the politicization of pro-life issues, awareness and the question of guilt.
"We are challenged by our faith to see the face of God in every man, woman and child. But it's easier to see that face in a beautiful baby than a serial killer," Mrs. Gallagher noted.
But "it doesn't matter. There's a reason we're called human beings and not human doings."[[In-content Ad]]
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