Time to end death penalty

In January, citing the issue of fairness, outgoing Illinois Governor George Ryan pardoned four prisoners condemned to death, and commuted the death sentences of 164 men and three women to prison terms of life or less.

In 2000, spurred by the wrongful conviction of Anthony Potter, who was 48 hours away from execution before being spared by the aggressive efforts of a Northwestern University professor, Dave Protess, and his journalism students, Gov. Ryan declared a moratorium on executions in his state. His action was based upon further study of the issue, which revealed that in Illinois:

* 17 innocent men had been wrongfully convicted under the death penalty statute;

* Half of the nearly 300 capital cases in Illinois had been reversed for new trial or re-sentencing;

* 33 of the death row inmates were represented at trial by an attorney who had later been disbarred or at some point suspended from practicing law;

* More than two thirds of the inmates on death row were African-Americans;

* Of the more than 160 condemned prisoners, 35 were African-Americans who had been condemned by all-white juries; and

* 46 inmates were convicted on the basis of testimony from jailhouse informants.

Questions raised

Based upon that evidence, Gov. Ryan concluded, "The facts that I have seen in reviewing each and every one of these cases raised questions not only about the innocence of people on death row, but about the fairness of the death penalty system as a whole. Our capital system is haunted by the demon of error, error in determining guilt and error in determining who among us deserves to die."

Stating that "fairness is fundamental to the American system of justice and our American way of life," the Governor questioned the fairness of the system, especially with regard to what effect race, poverty and geography are having upon whether a person is tried or convicted under the death penalty statute.

Gov. Ryan also noted that every western democracy has rejected the death penalty; that even Russia has called for a moratorium; and that in the 12 states of our nation where the death penalty has been abolished, the homicide rate has not risen, thus questioning whether capital punishment is truly a deterrent to crime.

Debate renewed

Not surprisingly, Gov. Ryan's action has sparked intense renewed debate about capital punishment.

Death penalty opponents are heartened by his decision. Amnesty International, for example, which has documented that more than 100 people in the United States have been released from death row after evidence of their innocence emerged, stated, "Illinois is not alone in sending the innocent to death row. It is also not alone in overseeing a capital justice system whose arbitrariness is a defining characteristic."

On the other hand, prosecutors, victims' advocates and many in the general public are outraged at the idea of showing any mercy whatsoever to some of the clearly guilty persons whose death sentences were commuted. One of the inmates spared capital punishment, for example, murdered a mother and her children, and ripped a full-term fetus from the mother's womb. Others are deeply concerned about the sweeping way Gov. Ryan exercised his constitutional right to pardon.

Church's view

For us in the Catholic community, Gov. Ryan's decision should serve to remind us why the Church has come to its position of staunch opposition to capital punishment, a position that has evolved over the centuries and been crystallized in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. It states that the death penalty should no longer be used, since there are secure and better ways to protect society from violent offenders.

While practical issues -- like wrongful conviction, and the role of race, poverty and geography -- have influenced the Church's evolving position in this matter, at its core, our opposition is based primarily on moral and spiritual grounds.

Our faith reveals to us the sacred dignity of every human person. As Pope John Paul II notes in his encyclical, "The Gospel of Life": "Not even a murderer loses his personal dignity." Why? Because Jesus taught us, "Whatever you do to the least of these, you do unto me." Thus, when we assault the dignity or destroy the life of even the most hardened criminal, we assault Christ.

God's undying love

As Christians, we also believe that we are all sinners and that every human being is loved by God, no matter how great a person's sin.

It is easy to believe that through the passion and death of Jesus, God is in solidarity with those who suffer at the hands of malicious and ruthless people. The remarkable thing is that God also loves evil-doers and that through God's grace, we are called to do so as well.

Proclaiming the Good News of God's love for all people, even the most depraved criminals, is premised on our belief that no one is beyond redemption or God-forsaken.

Spirit of Jesus

To oppose capital punishment, then, is a concrete way to keep alive the compassionate and forgiving spirit of Jesus in our day; to underscore, as we Catholic bishops stated in our 1998 pastoral letter, "Living the Gospel of Life," that "the antidote to violence is love, not more violence."

Two years later, in our statement on crime and criminal justice, we underscored that the time has come "to abandon the death penalty -- not just because of what it does to those who are executed, but because of how it diminishes all of us."

We re-echoed our 1999 Good Friday Appeal to End the Death Penalty when we noted that "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 a tragic illusion that we can defend life by taking life."

Victims

In adopting our opposition to capital punishment, we bishops are not unmindful of the terrible loss experienced by the surviving family members of those who have been murdered. Indeed, we point out that the Church has a grave responsibility to reach out with compassion to family members of those killed, to understand their tremendous pain, and to help them redirect their understandable anger from revenge to true justice and real healing.

In this regard, let me share with you some thoughts of Marietta Jaeger-Lane, the founder of Murdered Victim's Families for Reconciliation and the Journey of Hope: From Violence to Healing. The youngest of her four daughters, Susie, was kidnapped in the middle of the night on a family vacation and later, after months of anguishing searching and promises of Susie's return if her ransom was paid, she was found dead. Fortunately, the kidnapper was apprehended. He faced the death penalty.

Marietta's initial response was "to kill him for what he had done to my family." However, as the time came close to the kidnapper's trial and she reflected upon the reality of the death penalty, through her faith and prayer, her mind-set changed.

She writes: "I came to realize that to kill this man in Susie's name would be to violate and profane the goodness and sweetness of her life. I could not honor her memory by becoming that which I deplored -- someone who wants to kill. She was worthy of a more noble and beautiful memorial than a cold-blooded, premeditated, state-sanctioned killing, producing yet another victim and another grieving family. I better honored my precious daughter by insisting that all of life is sacred and worthy of preservation. So I asked the prosecutor to offer mandatory life imprisonment with no chance of parole instead of the death penalty. My request was honored. Only then did the FBI obtain the kidnapper's confession. He confessed to taking Susie's life as well as the lives of three other persons."

Letting go

In the years since, through her experience with the organization she founded to help families of murder victims, Marietta has concluded that "those who have retained a vindictive attitude, however justified they may be or feel, in the end give the offender another victim -- themselves. Those who have responded to God's call for conversion -- that is, a willingness to aspire to a higher moral principle befitting the daughters and sons of God -- experience resurrection, enabling them to live lives of strength, health, peace and joy."

Marietta's attitude and approach have helped other murder victim's family members to survive this terrible tragedy. She has also enabled them to discover "how to surrender their normal initial response, the human response of rage and revenge, and allow it to be converted to an attitude of concern and compassion for the offender. In so doing, their hearts have been healed, their spirits have been strengthened, and they are able to lead healthy, fruitful lives once again. Though it is never easy, these people have learned that conversion is a life-giving gift that we can, through God's grace, give ourselves."

Marietta concludes that the death penalty only "dishonors the victim, prolongs hatred and engenders violence (both physical and psychological) in society at large. The profoundly moving stories of their journeys, by contrast, testify repeatedly both to the ability of the human spirit to 'take up our cross' and to the power of the Holy Spirit to effect resurrection."

What to do

May the vision of Marietta's heroic journey and those of her fellow pilgrims, coupled with our own faith, be a lesson of conversion for all of us, and lead us to work prophetically for the abolition of the death penalty in our state, nation and world.

As a positive step in this direction, we can add our voices to the growing number of public bodies and community groups calling for a moratorium on the death penalty in our Empire State. I was pleased that on Feb. 20 the Albany Common Council did precisely that; I hope other public and voluntary bodies will follow the Council's example.

This is a practical way in which we can contribute to the "unconditional respect for life," which Pope John Paul says must be "the foundation of a new society."

(03/06/03)