[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, FLA., MO., OKLA., CALIF., USA

[Rick Halperin]

July 28



TEXAS:

High court rejects state appeal in capital murder bond


The state's highest criminal court rejected an appeal Wednesday by McLennan 
County District Attorney Abel Reyna that challenged an intermediate appellate 
court's order reducing the bond of a capital murder defendant.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruling upheld an April decision by Waco's 
10th Court of Appeals that reduced bond for James Ray Brossett from $5 million 
to $1 million.

Reyna's office appealed the 10th Court's ruling, and the Court of Criminal 
Appeals rejected the appeal without comment or written opinion.

The legal exercise could prove moot because Brossett likely is still unable to 
post bond and secure his release, said one of his attorneys, Michelle Tuegel.

"We respect the decisions of the Court of Criminal Appeals and the 10th Court 
of Appeals, and we are pleased to see the 10th Court of Appeal's decision is 
basically going to be the final decision on the bond issue," Tuegel said. "But 
I don't think this will result in the release of our client because he has been 
sitting in jail and unable to work for this period of time. It's hard to own 
and operate a business when you are sitting in jail."

Neither Reyna nor his first assistant, Michael Jarrett, returned phone messages 
left at their office Wednesday.

Brossett, of Arlington, is charged with capital murder in the July 2015 death 
of Laura Patschke, with whom he once had a dating relationship.

Prosecutors intend to seek the death penalty against the 49-year-old Brossett, 
who they said confessed to the crime.

Brossett was free at the time of Patschke's death on 2 bonds related to 
stalking and violating a protective order involving Patschke.

He also is charged with shooting Patschke's 18-year-old son, Trevor, in the arm 
during the early-morning incident at their home in Crawford.

Judge Matt Johnson of Waco's 54th State District Court set Brossett's bond at 
$5 million and declined to reduce it during a hearing in November.

Tuegel and Walter M. Reaves Jr., Brossett's other attorney, appealed Johnson's 
ruling.

No trial date has been set for Brossett, who had been jailed for 387 days as of 
Wednesday.

Tuegel said prosecutors still are waiting for the results of forensic testing, 
including DNA and ballistics.

At the previous bond hearing, Reyna told the court it was not by chance that 
Brossett drove from Arlington to Crawford that Sunday night or early Monday 
morning, when Trevor and his younger brother and sister had just returned to 
their mother's home from a holiday visit with their father. Brossett intended 
to kill the whole family, Reyna said.

Brossett parked his truck about a mile from Patschke's home on Bosque Ridge 
Boulevard and walked through the woods, Reyna said.

He got lost along the way, and it took him more than 2 hours to reach 
Patschke's house, Reyna said.

In arguing against the bond reduction, Reyna told the judge that Brossett sent 
Patschke more than 200 harassing text messages on the day he was freed from 
jail the last time.

Because of the harassment, Patschke's sons slept with loaded weapons near their 
beds because they were aware of Brossett's violent nature, Reyna said.

Brossett kicked open a door and went to Patschke's bedroom and fired a shot at 
her, Reyna said. The boys came running from their rooms with guns, and Brossett 
shot Trevor Patschke in the arm, Reyna said.

As their sister hid in her room, the boys fled the house, Reyna said. Brossett 
then returned and fired 2 more shots at Patschke, striking the 48-year-old at 
close range with his 12-gauge shotgun, Reyna said.

Brossett had a flashlight taped onto his shotgun barrel and went outside to 
look for the children to "finish what he had started," the district attorney 
said.

Brossett later found the keys to Patschke's car, which he drove to where he had 
parked his truck, Reyna said. Brossett left her car and drove his truck to the 
Fort Worth area, where authorities arrested him, Reyna said.

Brossett served 3 years in prison after pleading guilty to assault-family 
violence with bodily injury in 2003 and has a 1997 conviction for violating a 
protective order. He has 3 other arrests relating to violence against women 
dating back to 1987, prosecutors said.

(source: Waco Tribune)






FLORIDA:

Republican Liberty Caucus To Host Conservatives Concerned About Death Penalty 
Event


Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty, a national network of 
conservatives and libertarians questioning the alignment of capital punishment 
with their principles, will make a presentation to the Republican Liberty 
Caucus of Central East Florida on August 1 in Indian Harbor Beach.

"I believe that it is important for conservatives and libertarians alike to 
consider how the death penalty operates and determine if it fits within our 
political philosophy," said Robert White, Chairman of the Republican Liberty 
Caucus of Florida.

"The facts are clear that the death penalty risks innocent lives and costs far 
more than the alternatives."

Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty national coordinator Marc 
Hyden, a representative of the National Rifle Association in Florida prior to 
taking this position, will make a presentation to the group about why 
conservatives in Florida and across the nation are re-thinking the death 
penalty.

"Increasingly, conservatives from across the country are opposing the death 
penalty because it fails to align with our principles. It's simply a broken and 
incredibly costly government program that risks killing innocent Americans," 
said Hyden.

To date, more than 155 individuals have been released from death rows across 
America because they were wrongfully convicted and Florida leads the nation in 
death row exonerations with 26.

The event will begin at 6 p.m. followed by the meeting at 7 p.m. It will take 
place at MeMaw's BBQ, located at 600 E. Eau Gallie Boulevard in Indian Harbor 
Beach.

(source: Space Coast Daily)

**************

Mark Sievers' attorneys file motion to strike death penalty


The man accused of organizing the murder of his wife appeared in court again on 
Wednesday. This time for his criminal charges of murder.

Mark Sievers appeared before a judge Wednesday afternoon for an update on his 
case.

This is the 2nd time in just 2 days that Mark Sievers has been in a Lee County 
courtroom. On Tuesday, there was a hearing about the custody of the Sievers' 
daughters.

On Wednesday, we learned more about the criminal case where he is accused of 
planning the murder of his wife, Teresa Sievers, and faces the death penalty.

The brief hearing focused on just a few details of the developing case.

"We've filed a motion to strike the death penalty," said Michael Mummert, Mark 
Sievers' attorney.

"Both Mr. Mummert and the state have a number of motions," said Hamid Hunter 
with the State Attorney's Office.

Motions filed by the attorneys for Mark Sievers include arguments to strike the 
death penalty in the case based on improper filing and a request to review 
testimony in the grand jury case that led to the death penalty filing.

"We just received a new disk of discovery for this case this afternoon that I 
haven't yet gone through," said Mummert.

A mountain of items for review from years of cell phone records to photos and 
crime scene details required a continuance on the case on Wednesday. The review 
of the motion is already on the judge's calendar.

The motion to strike the death penalty and the state's response will be heard 
in a week, along with the Sievers' attorney's request for grand jury testimony.

The next case update is scheduled for September 1st -- the same day Jimmy 
Rodgers, 1 of the 2 men awaiting trial for the actual murder, is back in court.

(source: NBC news)

****************

Hans Tanzler attacks John Rutherford on death penalty opposition


The Congressional District 4 GOP race thus far has been a race to the right. 
And in that context comes Hans Tanzler's recent attacks on John Rutherford for 
the former Jacksonville sheriff's opposition to the death penalty.

On Wednesday morning, Tanzler sent out a press release saying that "I am not 
sure that with a blanket approach to this [death penalty] issue, Rutherford can 
be trusted to protect America."

"In light of recent terror attacks on our own soil and overseas, it is more 
important than ever that leaders be willing to take out evildoers to prevent 
greater harm to the innocent. We must prosecute the War on Terror as 
aggressively as possible, which includes the death penalty for terrorists. I am 
not sure that with a blanket approach to this issue, Rutherford can be trusted 
to protect America," Tanzler said.

"Any indication of weakness that we give our enemies is a green light to them 
for their murderous plans," Tanzler added.

Rutherford's position on the death penalty was voiced at a recent Republican 
forum, in which he talked of the "culture of death" in our country, of which he 
sees the death penalty and abortion as linked.

"I'm adamantly opposed to abortion," Rutherford said, adding that "all life is 
sacred" and "that is why I'm no longer supportive of the death penalty."

There is, said Rutherford, no "qualifier on the sanctity of life."

"I do not believe in the death penalty because it weakens our position on 
abortion," Rutherford added.

This position is not new for Rutherford; he said the same thing in January 
2015.

"I think the 1st degradation of the sanctity of life began with Roe v. Wade," 
Rutherford said. "It goes on, and you see the movies, the games the kids play. 
The video games, the violence in those games, all of that contributes to what I 
call a culture of death.

"And I believe in the sanctity of life. Whether you kill a baby in the womb or 
you kill a baby ... neither one of those respects the sanctity of life, and 
that has been an issue with me for a long time. And that changed my position on 
the death penalty, because every saint has a past and every sinner has a 
future."

Rutherford, with over 3 decades in law enforcement, has seen the consequences 
of the "culture of death" (as he calls it) more closely than most.

Certainly more than the other candidates in the CD 5 race ... unless those 
board room meetings of Tanzler's were more interesting than the minutes would 
have let on.

However, this is not an election cycle where nuanced positions are allowed at 
the table. It is a dialogue of grievance and bold strokes, and a dialogue in 
which simplistic solutions are routinely touted as answers for complex 
questions.

(source: Florida Politics)






MISSOURI:

Appeals Court Rejects Suit Over Missouri Execution Protocol


A state appeals court has rejected a lawsuit over how Missouri obtains its 
lethal injection drug, the latest of many challenges to the execution protocol 
that the courts have rejected.

In its ruling on Tuesday, the Western District of the Missouri Court of Appeals 
cited a technical reason for its decision to uphold a lower court's ruling 
dismissing the case. The appeals court said the lawsuit failed to state a claim 
upon which relief could be granted.

The plaintiffs 2 former state lawmakers, a minister and a nun argued that 
Missouri was breaking state and federal law by using an illegal prescription to 
obtain pentobarbital from a compounding pharmacy.

Their attorney, Justin Gelfand, said in a statement that the case raises 
"profoundly important issues." He stopped short of saying an appeal would be 
filed but said, "We are disappointed by the appellate court's ruling and intend 
to consider all possible options."

A spokeswoman for the Missouri attorney general's office declined comment.

The plaintiffs former lawmakers Joan Bray and Jeanette Oxford, Baptist minister 
Elston McCowan and Mary Ann McGivern, a member of the Sisters of Loretto were 
not challenging the death penalty, only practices used to obtain the drugs. 
Several death row inmates, the media, including The Associated Press, and 
others have also filed lawsuits challenging the secretive nature of Missouri's 
procurement of lethal drugs.

Cole County Circuit Court Judge Patricia Joyce dismissed the lawsuit last July, 
ruling that members of the public don't have standing to challenge Department 
of Corrections' operations and that the Missouri Supreme Court has jurisdiction 
in lawsuits related to the death penalty.

The attorney general's office argued that the lawsuit was trying to privately 
enforce federal food and drug laws and was a last-ditch effort to block the 
execution of David Zink, who had filed and lost similar lawsuits.

Zink, who abducted and killed a southwestern Missouri woman in 2001, was 
executed July 14, 2015, the day after Joyce's ruling.

Missouri obtains its execution drug from a compounding pharmacy that 
corrections officials refuse to name. They also refuse to discuss whether the 
drug is tested. The procedure has drawn several lawsuits from death row inmates 
and others.

The lawsuit alleged that federal and state laws prohibit the use of compounded 
drugs commercially available in the marketplace and copies of drugs that are 
FDA-approved, such as pentobarbital. The plaintiffs also argue the state 
violates state and federal laws by requiring a physician to fill prescriptions 
for the drug without conducting a medical exam, and that taxpayer money should 
not be used to buy the drugs.

(source: Associated Press)






OKLAHOMA:

Department of Corrections chooses new warden for Oklahoma State Penitentiary 
---- A Florida corrections official is picked to run the Oklahoma State 
Penitentiary.


The Oklahoma Department of Corrections announced Wednesday it has appointed a 
Florida warden be in charge of the Oklahoma State Penitentiary, the state's 
highest-security prison and home to its death-row unit.

Terry Royal, 44, of Clermont, Florida, will replace interim warden Kevin 
Duckworth. The appointment is pending approval from the Oklahoma Board of 
Corrections, which will take up the issue at its September meeting.

The DOC said in a news release that Duckworth, who began his interim role in 
May, will assume a different role within the agency. Duckworth succeeded Jerry 
Chrisman, who served simultaneously as warden of OSP and the nearby 
minimum-security Jackie Brannon Correctional Center, both located in McAlester.

Chrisman assumed the role last October after warden Anita Trammell retired amid 
a multicounty grand jury investigation into the DOC's handling of the January 
2015 execution of Charles Warner and the events leading up to a stay being 
issued for Richard Glossip's planned execution last September.

Warner's lethal injection included potassium acetate rather than potassium 
chloride, which the state's execution protocol at that time required. Glossip's 
execution was stayed after officials realized they again received potassium 
acetate.

"Terry Royal has successfully navigated the corrections ranks throughout his 
career, beginning as a correctional officer to overseeing entire state regions 
as an administrator," DOC Director Joe M. Allbaugh said in a statement. "He has 
been instrumental in the initial accreditation or the re-accreditation of 6 
facilities by the American Correctional Association and has overseen facilities 
of every security level. When conducting a nationwide search to fill a 
position, you hope someone with Terry's background applies."

Royal has been warden of the Lake Correctional Institution in Clermont since 
January. Previously, he spent four years serving as warden at the Tomoka 
Correctional Institution in Daytona Beach. From 2011 to 2012, Royal was the 
Florida Department of Corrections' southern region director of institutions, 
overseeing 29 facilities and about 41,000 people of varying custody levels.

According to Oklahoma DOC records, 80 % of people currently housed at OSP were 
convicted of committing a violent crime, primarily 1st-degree murder. As of 
Tuesday, the penitenitary has 764 inmates, including 49 on death row.

"I am honored to be selected for this position and I look forward to coming to 
Oklahoma to be a member of this great agency," Royal said in a statement. 
"Corrections agencies throughout the nation are facing very significant 
challenges. With the director's leadership and the rest of talented staff at 
the department, we will face challenges head-on to ensure the goals and mission 
of the facility and agency are met. I appreciate Director Allbaugh's confidence 
in me to lead the Oklahoma State Penitentiary."

The grand jury in May issued a report that strongly criticized multiple 
officials within the DOC and Gov. Mary Fallin's office, including Trammell, DOC 
general counsel David Cincotta and Fallin;s general counsel, Steve Mullins, who 
resigned earlier this year before the report was complete.

The grand jury's report indicated problems with Trammell's oversight of the 
lethal injection process, as she testified she did not notify anyone that the 
DOC received potassium acetate in September because she thought the pharmacist 
provided what the agency needed. The doctor retained for Glossip's planned 
execution notified Cincotta of the drug discrepancy but advised him that 
potassium acetate was "medically interchangeable" with potassium chloride.

The jurors found that Trammell and other DOC officials wrongly assumed everyone 
around them did their jobs correctly, and therefore also did not verify the 
drugs were correct before Warner's execution. It called for the DOC to again 
revise its protocol and improve departmental oversight to better safeguard 
against errors.

The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals has mandated since October that the 
state file a status report every 30 days indicating whether the DOC has 
proposed any death penalty-related policy changes. The state will have 150 days 
after the DOC finalizes its newest lethal injection protocol to set execution 
dates for Glossip and other death row inmates, but the new protocol will likely 
be litigated at the federal level.

The state added execution by nitrogen hypoxia to the law last November, but a 
protocol governing its application has not yet been made.

(source: Tulsa World)

***************

Prosecutors Seek Death Penalty In Bartlesville Murder Case


Prosecutors will seek the death penalty for a Dewey man charged with the murder 
of a Bartlesville man in April.

Scott Offutt, 21, is charged with 1st-degree murder in the death of Kyler 
Holeman. Holeman's body was found near the intersection of East Adams Road and 
North 4000 Road on March 31.

The Washington County DA has filed a Bill of Particulars in the case saying the 
murder of Kyler Holeman was "especially heinous, atrocious and cruel."

A 2nd man, 21-year-old Derek Hamblin is also charged with 1st-degree murder in 
Holeman's death.

Both Offutt and Hamblin remain in the Washington County jail. Court records 
show the pair's next court hearing is September 7.

(source: newson6.com)






CALIFORNIA:

Brit faces DEATH PENALTY in the US if he is convicted of shooting dead his 
mother and stepfather at their home----Glasgow-born Derek Connell, 29, who 
moved to America over 20-years-ago, has been ordered to stand trial on 2 counts 
of 1st degree murder


A BRIT accused of shooting dead his mother and stepfather at their home in the 
United States could face the DEATH PENALTY after being ordered to stand trial 
on two counts of 1st degree murder.

Derek Connell is charged with the killing of his mother, Kim Higginbotham, and 
her American husband, Christopher.

The couple, both 48, were found dead at their home in Bakersfield, California, 
on April 30 by police officers.

Connell, 29, originally from Shawlands, Glasgow, confessed to the killings 
during a preliminary court hearing this week.

However, his lawyer Paul Cadman said there was no evidence of premeditation or 
malice on his part and argued he should be tried for 2nd-degree murder or 
voluntary manslaughter.

Kern County Superior Court Judge Thomas C. Clark turned down his request and 
said Connell's statements showed "a fair amount" of thought and planning after 
the killings. Connell has said he used bleach in an effort to clean up blood 
pooled around the bodies.

Mr Cadman said the killings were a result of post-traumatic stress disorder and 
drug addiction problems which Connell suffered after serving with the US Army 
in Iraq and Afghanistan.

He said: "Derek is disappointed by the decision of the magistrate to continue 
this case as a death penalty case since the preliminary hearing showed clearly 
that he has no recollection of the events and certainly had no premeditation, 
deliberation, or malice aforethought regarding the incident.

"He believes he did it but he doesn't know how.

"His heroic yet frightening experiences serving our country in Iraq and 
Afghanistan and the subsequent substance abuse problems that he was forced to 
deal with due to his horrific experiences remain directly responsible for the 
tragedy that has unfolded in this case."

During an interview, played to the court Connell told investigators he believed 
he had killed his mother and stepfather.

"I had to have done it," he said. :There was no one else in the house."

Connell said he spent the evening drinking heavily, then returned to his 
parents' home. He began living with them after serving a 9-month jail sentence 
for drink driving in Colorado.

He told investigators he spoke with his stepfather briefly before going to bed. 
They didn't argue, and he said he got along well with both his mother and 
stepfather.

Connell said the next thing he recalled was finding their bodies. He cried as 
he described lying next to his mother's body and telling her he was sorry.

Investigators pushed him for information as to what happened from the time he 
went to bed to discovering the bodies, but Connell said he couldn't remember 
anything.

2 shotguns, 5 handguns and 7 rifles were seized from the home. Connell said the 
weapons belonged to his stepfather.

Connell served in the U.S. Army from 2005 to 2008, and was discharged due to an 
incident involving alcohol, he said in court filings. Upon returning to the 
U.S., he worked in oil fields in Colorado and Texas.

Connell was born in Rutherglen Maternity Hospital and lived with his mother in 
Shawlands in Glasgow's south side as a child.

Kim worked as a secretary and met her future husband while he was stationed 
with the US Navy in Scotland.

She moved with her son to be with Christopher when he went back to America more 
than 20 years ago.

Kim had worked for 16 years as a teacher at the Princeton Street Elementary 
School.

The next hearing in the case is scheduled for next month.

(source: thesun.co.uk)






USA:

Court rebuffs Sampson's plea to exclude evidence in death-penalty trial


A federal appeals court appeared Wednesday to rebuff an emergency plea by 
convicted serial killer Gary Lee Sampson to have evidence excluded from his 
upcoming death-penalty trial.

Sampson, a drifter from Abington who admitted to killing 3 people during a 
carjacking spree in 2001, was sentenced to death in 2003. A federal judge later 
overturned that decision, finding juror wrongdoing. A new sentencing trial is 
slated for Sept. 14.

Sampson, 56, asked the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit on Wednesday 
to exclude certain evidence introduced in his 2003 sentencing trial, saying the 
jury's verdict shows that jurors - even though he was sentenced to death - had 
rejected some of the prosecutors' arguments related to that evidence.

It is rare for an appeals court to review a party's legal argument before a 
trial. But the lawyers involved in Sampson's case agreed they would rather 
resolve the question now, rather than have it affect a jury's sentencing 
verdict after the fact.

"The court of appeals will likely have to resolve this issue at some point in 
time," US District Judge Leo Sorokin, who is overseeing the case, said in a 
separate proceeding Wednesday.

The evidence at issue pertains to 2 claims prosecutors cited in 2003 as reasons 
that Sampson should be sentenced to death, known as aggravating factors: that 
he killed his victims because he thought they would report his carjacking to 
authorities, and that he would be a future threat who would cause harm to 
others in prison.

Sampson's lawyers argued that, because jurors in 2003 rejected those claims, a 
new jury should not be asked to consider them again under the Double Jeopardy 
Clause of the Fifth Amendment, which forbids authorities from seeking to 
prosecute a defendant on multiple occasions with the same evidence.

But the 3 judges on the appeals court panel seemed to reject that claim 
Wednesday, saying the US Supreme Court already has ruled that a defendant can 
raise a double jeopardy defense only in cases in which the evidence was 
essential to the original judgment.

In this case, prosecutors had argued, Sampson was still sentenced to death, and 
so the Fifth Amendment claim does not apply.

"How can these 2 [jury] rulings possibly be essential to that judgment?" Judge 
Sandra Lynch asked.

Judge Bruce M. Selya argued that the judges could not deviate from the Supreme 
Court ruling, even if they believed they should.

"The Supreme Court has made the rule pretty categorical," he said.

The judges did not say when they would issue a ruling, but a decision is 
expected sometime before the September trial date.

Earlier Wednesday, Sorokin held an open hearing in which he sought to explain 
the trial process to the families of Sampson's victims. Sampson pleaded guilty 
to the killing of 19-year-old Jonathan Rizzo of Kingston and 69-year-old Philip 
McCloskey of Taunton. He was sentenced to death for those killings but also 
pleaded guilty to the killing of Robert "Eli" Whitney, 58, of New Hampshire in 
separate proceedings in that state.

Sorokin told family members that he would make a conference room outside the 
courtroom available to them for their personal use away from the public. He 
also urged them to convey any questions or concerns to his staff.

Wednesday was the anniversary of Rizzo's death, and his father, Michael Rizzo, 
welcomed the judge's invitation. The families had often been at odds with US 
District Judge Mark L. Wolf.

"The families appreciate Judge Sorokin's approach and consideration of our 
feelings . . . throughout this process," he said.

(source: Boston Globe)

*************************

Dems are right to want to end the death penalty


Remarkably, for the 1st time, the Democratic Party proposes a platform plank 
saying: "We will abolish the death penalty, which has proven to be a cruel and 
unusual form of punishment. It has no place in the United States of America."

Hurrah! This is another breakthrough among progressive advances that keep 
improving America and Western civilization.

Of course, a platform plank is just an ideal, a goal. Years of work and legal 
changes would be required to make it a reality. But the plank is a healthy 
start.

It was adopted by the Democratic Platform Committee largely because of pressure 
from delegates loyal to Democratic-socialist Bernie Sanders. But presidential 
nominee Hillary Clinton concurs. When asked about executions in March, she 
said: "States have proven themselves incapable of carrying out fair trials."

Executions are inflicted mostly on blacks and other poor defendants who can't 
pay for strong defenses. Nearly all Western democracies - except America - have 
abolished the death penalty. Today, it exists chiefly in brutal societies. 
Thank goodness, West Virginia ended it a half-century ago.

In the 1980s, around 40 U.S. states still prescribed executions, but most of 
them didn't put people to death. Currently, the number of pro-death states has 
dropped to 31, chiefly in the Deep South. Texas is, by far, the top killer 
state.

In 1999, states executed a total of 98 defendants - but only 28 were executed 
last year.

"The death penalty is kind of dying a slow death, because we aren't executing 
people at the rate we used to," former New York Times editor Bill Keller 
commented. President Obama told Keller he had "very significant reservations" 
about the death penalty because "racial bias" sways it.

Law professor Evan Mandery, who wrote a book on capital punishment, commented: 
"It doesn't make sense to talk about the American death penalty anymore. The 
death penalty is almost exclusively a Southern phenomenon, driven mostly by 
Texas and few right-leaning prosecutors."

Putting citizens to death is more about retribution than about justice or 
public safety.

In the cause of justice, the death penalty must be abandoned, because there 
could always be a mistake. When investigators, judges and communities find they 
have made an error, as frequently happens with improvements in forensic 
science, an incarcerated person can always be released. An executed person 
cannot be brought back to life.

Thank heaven, the Democrats have included this important goal among their 
positions.

(source: Editorial, Charleston (W.Va.) Gazette-Mail)

***********

The Abolitionist


Pope Francis' position on the death penalty is abolitionist. He believes there 
is no moral ground in Catholic teaching that would justify any state using 
capital punishment today, and he has set up a commission to review the question 
and the relevant section of the Catechism of the Catholic Church to amend this.

Right now the catechism does not exclude the use of the death penalty in 
extreme situations. It says in No. 2267:

Assuming that the guilty party's identity and responsibility have been fully 
determined, the traditional teaching of the Church does not exclude recourse to 
the death penalty, 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 to the dignity of the human person.

Today, in fact, as a consequence of the possibilities which the state has for 
effectively preventing crime, by rendering one who has committed an offense 
incapable of doing harm - without definitely taking away from him the 
possibility of redeeming himself - the cases in which the execution of the 
offender is an absolute necessity "are very rare, if not practically 
nonexistent."

Over the past half century, a development has taken place in the church's 
position regarding capital punishment. Some consider it a development in church 
teaching. This has come about in parallel to growing opposition to it in civil 
society, particularly in Europe, but also in the United States and elsewhere.

Ever since John XXIII, popes, whenever requested, have appealed to state 
authorities on behalf of individuals about to be executed. It became common 
practice for the Holy See to do so under St. John Paul II. Bishops' conferences 
in many lands, including the United States, have done likewise and pushed for 
abolition.

As for church teaching, the historical record shows there was considerable 
discussion around this issue during the drafting of the new catechism. Some 
wanted the abolitionist stance recognized, but that did not happen. Many were 
unhappy with the 1st published text (1992), but this was amended following St. 
John Paul II's encyclical "The Gospel of Life" in 1995.

As a growing movement in the Catholic world continued to push the church to 
take an abolitionist stance, St. John Paul II took another step in January 1999 
without changing Catholic teaching. He appealed for a global consensus to end 
the death penalty because it is "both cruel and unnecessary." Benedict XVI made 
a similar appeal in November 2011.

Francis, however, has moved beyond his predecessors' positions and advocates 
abolition from convictions of faith. He stated this clearly on Sept. 14, 2014, 
when, addressing a joint session of the U.S. Congress, he cited the Golden 
Rule: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" (Mt 7:12). He told 
Congress, "this rule points us in a clear direction" and "reminds us of our 
responsibility to protect and defend human life at every stage of its 
development."

He confided that "this conviction has led me, from the beginning of my 
ministry, to advocate at different levels for the global abolition of the death 
penalty. I am convinced that this way is the best, since every life is sacred, 
every human person is endowed with an inalienable dignity, and society can only 
benefit from the rehabilitation of those convicted of crimes."

The pope recalled that his brother bishops in the United States had "renewed 
their call for the abolition of the death penalty," and stated, "Not only do I 
support them, but I also offer encouragement to all those who are convinced 
that a just and necessary punishment must never exclude the dimension of hope 
and the goal of rehabilitation."

He sent the same message to the United Nations and reiterated it several times 
this year. On Feb. 21, 2016, for example, he not only followed his predecessors 
by appealing "to the consciences of those who govern to reach an international 
consensus to abolish the death penalty"; he went further by stating clearly 
that "the commandment 'You shall not kill' has absolute value and applies to 
both the innocent and the guilty."

(source: Gerard O'Connell is America's Vatican correspondent; America Today)