Supporting a Culture of Life
The
Florida bishops have been calling for an end to
the death penalty for more than 25 years. Last
fall, the bishops initiated new efforts in their
campaign to end the use of the death penalty -
calling it a time to teach clearly, encourage
reflection, and call for common action in the
Catholic community.
Leading the educational and advocacy efforts on
behalf of the Florida bishops are Dale and Susan
Recinella of the Diocese of Saint Augustine.
They have been conducting seminars in parishes
throughout the state educating Catholics on the
church’s teaching on capital punishment.
Together they are spreading the message that
Florida should suspend all executions and
exercise the option of life in prison without
possibility of parole, sparing the families of
the victims as well as the inmate from inhumane
suffering.
The Florida bishops, through their Catholic
Campaign to End the Use of the Death Penalty,
have compiled several resources to help
individuals, parishes and dioceses participate
in this national campaign effort. Here are some
sobering facts for reflection:
• There is no evidence that the death penalty
deters violent crime - The average murder rate
is 5.3 in death penalty states and 2.8 in states
without the death penalty. As a region, the
South accounts for more than 80% of the
executions and has the highest murder rate. The
Northeast carries out less than 1% of the
executions and has the lowest murder rate (2004
FBI Uniform Crime Report).
• Life without parole is an effective and less
expensive alternative to the death penalty -
Lifetime incarceration costs far less than the
death penalty. The cost of imposing the death
penalty has been estimated as 2- to 6-times
greater, $3.2 million versus $750,000 for one
person (Miami Herald, 1988).
• Victim’s families deserve our special care and
concern - Repaying cruelty with cruelty does not
bring healing. Killing the guilty does not bring
back or honor the dead. The finality of
execution means that great care must be
exercised in its application. As a result, there
are often long delays between a finding of guilt
and execution, thus prolonging the involvement
of the victim’s family in a legal process in
which they are pressed to maintain a hostile
stance toward the criminal. This process may
actually delay “closure” for the family.
• Execution of innocents is a real danger.
• Application of the death penalty is deeply
flawed - more than 120 death row inmates in 25
states have been exonerated since the death
penalty was reinstated in 1973. Florida leads
the nation in death row exonerations.
In closing, “The death penalty diminishes all of
us. Its use ought to be abandoned not only for
what it does to those who are executed, but what
it does to us as a society. We cannot teach
respect for life by taking life.” (USCCB,
Catholic Campaign to End the Use of the Death
Penalty, 2005).
For more information and resources, visit
www.flacathconf.org or
www.usccb.org.
- Kathleen Bagg-Morgan, editor