Bishops: Ban capital punishment
Exonerated N.J. death-row inmate also testifies
By Chris Donahue
Staff Writer
TRENTON — Speaking for the Catholic bishops of New Jersey at the first N.J. Death Penalty Study Commission hearing July 19, Trenton Bishop John M. Smith called for an end to capital punishment because of the dignity of all human life and the availability of other means to punish heinous crimes.
Bishop Smith cited a 2005 statement by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops which said, “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.”
According to a December 2004 Zogby Inter national survey of 1,700 American Catholics, only 48 percent support the death penalty, Bishop Smith said.
“When given a choice, the majority of New Jerseyans who regularly attend religious services (54 percent) prefer life without parole over the death penalty for murder,” he added. “While I am encouraged by these poll numbers, I believe that the trend against the imposition of the death penalty will grow in our community as people learn and grow in their understanding that the death penalty is inconsistent with standards of decency.”
Also testifying against the death penalty was Larry Peterson, who was recently exonerated after spending 18 years in a N.J. prison for a murder he did not commit.
The U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976 after a three-year suspension. It was reinstated in New Jersey in 1982, but no one has been executed by the state since 1963. There are 10 men on death row in New Jersey, which uses lethal injection as the method of execution.
In January, Gov. Richard J. Codey signed legislation that ordered a temporary moratorium on executions and created the commission to examine the flaws in the death penalty system. The commission will hold another public hearing Sept. 13, also in Trenton.
The commission must submit its recommendations to the legislature and Gov. Jon S. Corzine by Nov. 15.
Also July 19, New Jerseyans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty released a report chronicling the stories of 25 N.J. residents, none on death row, who were convicted of crimes they did not commit.
The report, Innocence Lost in New Jersey, “shows that mistakes can and do happen in New Jersey and underscores why the state must replace its outdated and fatally flawed death penalty system with the alternative punishment of life in prison without the possibility of parole,” said Celeste Fitzgerald, executive director, NJADP.
“This is not about letting killers go free,” she continued. “The debate has shifted away from whether the death penalty is necessarily in principle, right or wrong. You can believe that someone deserves to die. It has shifted to whether it is necessary, in what we give up to have it.”
Other factors that should be considered in banning capital punishment, Fitzgerald said, include: only 1 percent of murderers are sentenced to death and the state spends an extra $11 million per year just to have the death penalty.
Since 1982, New Jersey has spent $253 million on the death penalty over what would have spent on life sentences, according to a study released in 2005 by New Jersey Policy Perspective.
“The bottom line is what could we have done with the quarter billion dollars and what can we do with the $11 million? We can put more police in the street, give them better tools, better processing labs to get better convictions,” Fitzgerald said.
“There is also a serious need for additional need for victim’s services, especially for victims of homicide, such as long-term counseling.”
Fitzgerald said she and her husband, Kelly, who are members of St. Patrick Parish, Chatham, can empathize with those on both sides of the issue because a relative of his was the victim of a homicide.
“Those of us who lost family members to murder know uniquely there is no right way to feel when someone is murdered,” she said. “We have had wonderful and respectful conversations with people who have been in our position.”
N.J. Catholic Bishops’ statement
As death row inmates exhaust their appeals and the possibility of execution draws near, we, the Catholic Bishops of New Jersey, wish to reiterate our opposition to the death penalty. We are guided by our belief that every person has an inalienable right to life, because each human being is made in the image and likeness of God, who alone is the absolute Lord of life from its beginning until its end (cf. The Book of Genesis 1:26-28).
We acknowledge that the subject of capital punishment is controversial and emotional. All murders are violent and shocking; some are savage. They all stir emotions of revulsion and anger. We grieve for the victims of murder, for the brutalization and loss of life. We commiserate with the families and friends of victims who must suffer with their loss through the years. We affirm that the state has the duty to punish criminals and to prevent the repetition or occurrence of crime. We believe that greater efforts must be made to bring the criminal to repentance and rehabilitation. We believe that our society is sufficiently developed to protect itself and to redress the injustice caused by the criminal without resorting to the use of the death penalty. One alternative is life without possibility of parole.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church acknowledges the right of public authorities to impose criminal punishment proportionate to the gravity of the offense, “if this is the only possible way of effectively defending human lives against the unjust aggressor. If, however, non-lethal means are sufficient to defend and protect people’s safety from the aggressor, authority will limit itself to such means, as these are more in keeping with the concrete conditions of the common good and more in conformity with the dignity of the human person.” Pope John Paul II has stated that in today’s world cases in which the execution of the offender is an absolute necessity “are very rare, if not practically non-existent.” (The Gospel of Life, 56).
Because the State of New Jersey has other means to redress the injustice caused by crime and to effectively prevent crime by rendering the one who has committed the offense incapable of doing harm and because we recognize the dignity of all human life, we continue to consistently and vigorously oppose the use of capital punishment. We recognize the continued need for improvement of our criminal justice system and for a greater societal commitment to crime prevention and victim assistance. As pastors and teachers we urge the State of New Jersey not to impose the death penalty in our state.
*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