Death Penalty Education

Note: The following was written by Providence Associates Suzie Ray and Jane Fischer.

Basic Vocabulary

Capital Punishment: Legal termination of the life of a person guilty of crimes considered the most serious in that country.

Execution: Legal term used for the government’s killing of a person.

Death penalty: Methods include lethal injection, electrocution, gas chamber, hanging and ring (firing) squad.

As of July 1, 2024, there were 2,213 death row residents across the country in Federal and State prisons. This number includes 49 women. Twenty-seven states currently have prisoners on death row. California, Florida, Texas, and Alabama have the largest numbers, 636, 291, 180, and 166 respectively. Federal prisons currently have 40. The State of Indiana, after 15 years without an execution, plans to execute Joseph Corcoran this year on December 18. 

The U.S. governments have the right to murder people. It is shocking to read, but it is true. While waiting for execution, persons sentenced to death for a capital crime are housed on Death Row, typically held in solitary confinement. Court rulings and overturning of death sentences result in more than half of all current death row residents – get ready – have been held there for more than 18 years! Yes, you read that right. People could be “on the row” for decades. 

Studies show there are negative physical, emotional, and psychological effects of being in solitary confinement. Many of the individuals suffer from mental illness and the isolation exacerbates their condition.

Closure Myth

The closure myth is that the death penalty gives comfort to the victims and/or their families. However, many studies have shown just the opposite. A recent study showed families of murder victims living in a State without the death penalty exhibited better psychological and physical health and a higher level of satisfaction with the criminal justice system than those facing the same challenges in a State where the death penalty is allowed.

Where does the U.S. stand?

More than half of all countries in the world have abolished the death penalty. Organizations such as Amnesty International, Death Penalty Action, Innocence Project, Catholic Mobilizing Network, and Journey of Hope, plus many other groups are working relentlessly to abolish the death penalty. 

According to the Death Penalty Information Center, 50% of Americans think the death penalty is applied unfairly. At the same time, the majority believe the death penalty is not applied in a racially neutral way. Also, the majority believe that the death penalty does not deter people from committing serious crimes, and does not have enough safeguards to prevent an innocent person from being executed.

By the Numbers and Color

Let’s look at those executed (murdered by the state):   

• The Death Penalty Information Center reports that since 1976 there have been 1,594 executions across the country.

• More than 75 percent of death row defendants who have been executed were sentenced to death for killing white victims, even though in society as a whole about half* of all homicide victims are African American. 

• Seventy-five percent of murder victims in cases resulting in execution were white, even though nationally only 50 percent of murder victims are white.

• It was also found in 82 percent of cases studied, the race of the victim was found to influence the likelihood of being charged with capital murder or receiving the death penalty. For example, those who murdered whites were found more likely to be sentenced to death than those who murdered blacks.

How do You Want to Die?

In states such as Florida, Tennessee and Utah residents on death row can choose their execution method. However, some attorneys advise their clients not to choose so they can continue to fight their methods in court. In 1999, the Supreme Court ruled that by picking a method of execution, the Arizona prisoner had waived his ability to argue that the process violates the Constitution. Attorneys also provide their clients with the details of execution methods and what will happen if something goes awry. Some residents of death row want to protect their loved ones who might be present for the execution or if they may see the body after the execution. 

The National Registry of Exonerations reports that since 1989, 575 wrongly convicted people have been exonerated based on DNA tests that demonstrated their innocence. Nearly three dozen people sentenced to death have been exonerated based on DNA evidence. These statistics also include 196 Innocence Project clients exonerated. Kirk Bloodsworth was the first person to spend time on death row and be exonerated by DNA evidence in the U.S. Mr. Bloodsworth spent nearly nine years wrongly incarcerated and is the founder of Witness to Innocence.

An Eye for an Eye

You’ve heard the expression, “An eye for an eye.” You may have heard it often when the topic of Capital Punishment comes up. You know about perspectives and cultural points of view. Let’s temporarily put our preconceived notions about “eye for an eye” in our back pockets. Let’s open our minds as we explore where that expression came from. 

Believe it or not, even today we are influenced by our way-back ancestors (Miller’s reference to “2,500 years ago”). Morris Massey tells us that experiences from childhood and growing up inform our opinions and thinking to this very day, unless and until we decide to drop back and examine, discern and consider another viewpoint. 

1. Is “an eye for an eye” still valid today? 
2. Was it ever supposed to be literal?  
3. How did that expression end up being so common for so long? 

The philosophy behind “an eye for an eye” was never expected to become a justice weapon for literal use. This was simply an early teaching technique for governments to help judges decide just restitution. 

In Fratelli Tutti (2020), Pope Francis reminded us: “Put your sword back into its place; for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.” (Mt 26:52 probably written 50-90 A.D.). So if you are still thinking “an eye for an eye,” it is time to reconsider.

Religious Groups’ Official Positions on Capital Punishment

World Faiths in Relative Ages

Hinduism: 4,000 years

Judaism: 3,500 years

Zoroastrianism: 3,300 years

Jainism: 2,600 years

Buddhism: 2,500 years

Confucianism: 2,500 years

Taoism: 2,300 years

Christianity: 2,000 years

Islam: 1,400 years

Shinto: 1,300 years

Sikhism: 500 years

Consider the numbers above showing the history of various religions. Identify the faith you are most familiar with and look at the years that passed before you learned your beliefs. 

Catechism and Spirituality

As you can see from the chart, religions have been around for a long time. There were few options for dealing with offenders in a society that moved frequently and struggled to survive. The penalty for most crimes was either death, beating, or banishment from the tribe. Most of the crimes associated with the death penalty are not associated with the death penalty today, for example, disobedience to one’s parents.

In 1995, in his encyclical “Evangelium Vitae,” St. John Paul II stated that the times that the State needed to use capital punishment to protect other citizens were “very rare, if not practically non-existent.” Four years later, he called for its abolition. So did Pope Benedict XVI, in 2011. The door to the death penalty was gradually closing.

Pope Francis tells us that capital punishment is a moral issue. If you have ever discussed capital punishment and execution, you have experienced and seen the emotion and volatility that arises. As early as 2018, Pope Francis publicly declared capital punishment “inadmissible”– in other words, not allowed. And in keeping with his teachings about mercy, he tells us, “Let us keep in mind that not even a murderer loses his personal dignity, and God himself pledges to guarantee this.” 

According to DeathPenalty.org, on August 2, 2018, the Roman Catholic Church formally revised its Catechism to unambiguously oppose capital punishment. The new Catechism calls capital punishment “an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person” and deems it “inadmissible” in all cases. It also commits the Church to work “with determination” to abolish the death penalty worldwide.