The Death Penalty
Summary
In June 2004 the New York Court of Appeals struck down New York’s death penalty statute, holding it unconstitutional under the New York State Constitution. In October 2007 the Court affirmed that ruling, and the last remaining death sentence in the state was vacated. Thus, New York State may not impose the death penalty at the current time.
However, a more long-term solution continues to be needed to ensure that the death penalty is repealed from the statutes of New York State. In December 2007, New Jersey became the first state in the nation to legislatively abolish capital punishment, followed by New Mexico in 2009 and Illinois in 2011. New York State should follow their lead.
Conference Position
The Catholic Conference supports abolition of the death penalty in New York State to ensure that executions never again take place in the state.
Rationale
In 1995 Pope John Paul II specifically addressed the death penalty issue in his encyclical Evangelium Vitae. He said, “[T]he nature and extent of the punishment must be carefully evaluated and decided upon, and ought not go to the extreme of executing the offender except in cases of absolute necessity: in other words, when it would not be possible otherwise to defend society. Today, however, as a result of steady improvements in the organization of the penal system, such cases are very rare, if not practically nonexistent.”
The official Catechism of the Catholic Church incorporates this principle.
The Catholic Conference advocates for social policies which are committed to human life and which affirm the value and dignity of each individual. The Church teaches that every human life is sacred and made in the image and likeness of God, even one who may have committed a heinous crime.
Measures such as capital punishment, euthanasia and abortion are disrespectful of human life on a variety of levels. The death penalty represents a short-term, violent “solution” to the very deep problems of crime, poverty, unemployment, lack of education and resources. Moreover, there is ample evidence that the death penalty has been imposed unjustly and that it is often used in a discriminatory manner against racial, ethnic and economic groups, two consequences that further erode respect for human life.
In Evangelium Vitae, Pope John Paul II urges “a system of penal justice ever more in line with human dignity and thus, in the end, with God’s plan for man and society.”
Over the past ten years, many new developments have emerged highlighting the injustice of the death penalty. Recent cases of wrongful death penalty application, in which new DNA evidence was used to overturn murder convictions and free innocent prisoners, are gruesome reminders that our criminal justice system is not foolproof. In early 2000, so many wrongful convictions came to light in the state of Illinois that Governor George Ryan was persuaded to impose a moratorium on executions in that state. The Governor of Maryland became the second governor to impose a moratorium on capital punishment, and more than 3,400 cities, towns, local governments and organizations across the country have called for a moratorium on executions.
While nearly all European and North, Central and South American countries have abolished capital punishment, the United States has not. Over the course of the last 20 years, 530 human beings have been executed at the hands of state governments in America. The barbaric methods used include lethal injection, electrocution, gas chamber, hanging and firing squad. Capital punishment is irrevocable; once society kills unjustly, there is no way to remedy that wrongdoing.
Based as it is on respect for the human person, the Church’s opposition to the death penalty also includes profound respect for the victims of crime, their family and friends. Respect for the inherent humanity of a person who has committed evil acts should in no way be interpreted as a defense of his or her crimes.
According to Gallup’s 2011 public opinion poll, support for the death penalty has dropped to its lowest level in 39 years.
You can download this document, The Death Penalty, in PDF form.
