Sister Helen Prejean, a long-time advocate of abolishing the death penalty, has said that the Supreme Court has "abdicated its legal and moral responsibilities" in allowing executions to proceed in various cases.
The U.S. Supreme Court granted a last-minute stay of execution for Texas death-row inmate Ruben Gutierrez June 16, saying the state prison officials need to reexamine their rule that bans clergy from being with prisoners to the execution chamber.
Catholic advocates against the death penalty have assailed the state of Missouri for proceeding with the first execution to occur during the pandemic, despite the efforts to stop it.
In the middle lands of these 40 days, I am burdened by the fact that our society has not yet reckoned with the ongoing sin of capital punishment nor the full extent of our country’s racist past.