Moratorium offers glimmer of hope
For whatever distance there may be between the political ideology of acting Gov. Richard A. Codey and the teachings of the Catholic Church, the two factions clearly shared the same moral ground when the acting governor announced his support for a death penalty moratorium.
Codey, wielding his unique power as both acting governor and Senate president, endorsed the moratorium while he effectively halted a Senate vote on a bill that would have established a commission to study whether New Jersey’s death penalty is equitable and costeffective. The study, Codey believes, makes no sense without a moratorium.
We couldn’t agree more. The Church’s teaching on the death penalty, as recently affirmed by a joint statement of the N.J. Catholic bishops, is firmly opposed to the use of capital punishment except in cases where there is no other way to defend the public against an aggressor. The bishops have correctly pointed out that New Jersey has the means to detain criminals, removing any need for such extreme measures.
It is expected that the moratorium will ban all executions for 18 months to two years following the signing of the bill.
Some proponents of the death penalty have said that such attention and resources need not be invested in this issue since the state hasn’t executed anyone in 41 years. But in fact, the state recently grew significantly closer to taking the life of a prisoner when the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the case of 74- year-old John Martini, convicted for murder and kidnapping in 1991.
While the moratorium endorsed by Codey falls short of rescinding the death penalty altogether, it does offer a grace period during which the state commission may conduct its study. The mandate to be placed before commission members will be to determine if the death penalty meets “evolving standards of decency,” if it is applied without discrimination and if it is worth the cost.
For Catholics, it comes down to one objective – upholding the dignity and sanctity of human life. We applaud acting Gov. Codey for taking this most important first step.
And we are hopeful that the commission, once seated, will reach the only conclusion that truly serves the common good — the death penalty is a violation of all citizens of this state and needs to be abolished.
*The attached/referenced article was originally published in The Catholic Spirit, the official newspaper of the Diocese of Metuchen, and is protected under U.S. and international copyright law