death penalty
A former Confederate state just voted to abolish its death penalty. Here’s why that’s a big deal
By Shane Claiborne — February 5, 2021
(RNS) — Virginia has a special place in America's history of racial terror.
Is killing Lisa Montgomery the best version of justice we have?
By Shane Claiborne — January 11, 2021
(RNS) — Lisa Montgomery is slated to become the first woman executed by the federal government in nearly 70 years, days before her executioner leaves office.
Barr the executioner
By Mark Silk — December 21, 2020
(RNS) — The departing attorney general seemingly went out of his way to reject his church's teaching on the death penalty.
The death penalty is a burden of shame for the United States. It must end
By Diane Randall — December 11, 2020
(RNS) — The death penalty denies the sacredness of human life, forever foreclosing on the opportunity for redemption.
William Barr and the politics of death
By Shane Claiborne — November 18, 2020
(RNS) — We are not executing the ‘worst of the worst,’ as some may believe, but the poorest of the poor, and disproportionately people of color.
National Catholic Prayer Breakfast award for Barr divides Catholics
By Thomas Reese — September 21, 2020
(RNS) — Getting together for breakfast and prayer should not be controversial, but the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast is dividing Catholics along partisan lines with its plans to honor Attorney General William Barr a little more than a month before the November election.
Federal executions are one more example of Trump administration overreach
By Shane Claiborne — July 29, 2020
(RNS) — This month’s federal executions are the first in 17 years, but may only be the beginning. The next federal execution is scheduled for Aug. 28, and there are 59 more federal inmates facing the death penalty.
Faith leaders blast Trump administration’s renewed use of death penalty
By Jack Jenkins — July 16, 2020
WASHINGTON (RNS) — The outcry comes as the U.S. Department of Justice carried out its second execution this week on Thursday morning (July 16) and is scheduled to perform its third on Friday. These constitute the first uses of capital punishment by the federal government since 2003.
Death in the middle of death: On the execution of Walter Barton
By Shane Claiborne — May 26, 2020
(RNS) — The pandemic has caused us to rethink a lot of things, and one can only hope that executing people is one of the things we don’t want to return to.
The hero of the film ‘Just Mercy’ could be you
By Shane Claiborne — January 2, 2020
(RNS) — The biopic about the work of Bryan Stevenson isn't about a man, but a social justice movement that any one of us can join.
Let’s not ask Botham Jean’s family to choose forgiveness over justice
By Shane Claiborne — October 8, 2019
(RNS) — We’ve seen this dynamic before. The families of nine victims of Mother Emanuel church in Charleston, S.C., proclaimed both forgiveness and justice with power, but some folks only heard the forgiveness.
Some Pittsburgh Jews upset by decision to seek death penalty in synagogue attack
By Yonat Shimron — August 27, 2019
(RNS) — Two of the three congregations that met inside the Tree of Life synagogue said they were saddened by the news that federal prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against a gunman who killed 11 Jews at their place of worship last year.
Sister Helen Prejean on new book, getting rid of death penalty and getting Jesus ‘right’
By Emily McFarlan Miller — August 20, 2019
(RNS) — Sister Helen Prejean talked to Religion News Service about how she became involved in social justice, why she thinks the death penalty is on its way out and how she got to 'bump into two popes along the way.'
A rabbi pleads with AG William Barr: Don’t bring the death penalty to Pittsburgh
By Yonat Shimron — August 13, 2019
(RNS) — To Rabbi Jonathan Perlman, a lengthy trial in which the prosecution would highlight Robert Bowers’ documented stream of anti-Jewish invective might be too much for his congregation to bear.
Can faithful Catholics vote for President Trump?
By John Gehring — August 9, 2019
(RNS) — The nation's Catholic bishops include racist behavior among the sins that 'may legitimately disqualify a candidate from receiving support.'