Krisanne Vaillancourt Murphy: “The death penalty serves as a sort of litmus test for how our nation is making progress to either dismantle or uphold racism.”

Catholic leaders have joined their voices with members of the Navajo Nation in opposing the Aug. 26 scheduled execution of Lezmond Mitchell, the only Native American on federal death row.

The Catholic Church and the Navajo Nation stand together in opposition to the execution of Lezmond Mitchell because it, like the racism which brought his death sentence to pass, erodes the sanctity of human life, writes Krisanne Vaillancourt Murphy.

In Indiana, the second federal execution in three days was carried out when Wesley Purkey was strapped to a gurney and injected with lethal chemicals as he expressed words of regret for what he had done.

What is the moral imperative behind the government’s urgency to hasten the death of its citizens?

Helen Prejean: “While we were all sleeping, the government killed a man under cloak of darkness.”