When a prominent Southern Baptist pastor quotes Levitical law prescribing the death penalty for participants in gay sex, should that be interpreted as calling for capital punishment for gay people in America today? Apparently not, according to Florida pastor Tom…
Momentum is building to stop an execution in Oklahoma
Legislative and religious momentum is building to spare the life of a condemned Oklahoma inmate and to seek a moratorium — if not an outright ban — on the state’s capital punishment system. Lawmakers and a former parole and pardons…
Capital punishment continues America’s history of lynching, panelists say
Capital punishment in the United States continues a system of lynchings used to terrorize and subjugate Black people in the 19th and early 20th centuries, a panel of death penalty abolitionists said during a recent webinar. “The mistake people sometimes…
Her ‘Damascus Road’ led to campaign against the death penalty
Joia Erin Thornton underwent a self-described “Damascus Road experience” that altered her career track from magazine writing to criminal justice policy work, community organizing and anti-death penalty advocacy. “I was living and working in New York, and I had this…
Coalitions in Florida and Texas seek to halt executions of mentally ill inmates
Death penalty opponents are pleading with two U.S. governors to halt the impending executions of a pair of mentally ill prisoners, including a Florida inmate scheduled for execution Feb. 23. “We pray that Gov. (Ron) DeSantis will consider the full…
Tennessee governor commended for ordering review of lethal injection protocols
Faith and civic leaders opposed to capital punishment commended Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee last week for ordering a deeper review of the state’s lethal injection protocols after an independent investigation discovered corrections officials consistently failed to follow proper procedures in…
The faithful understand how those harmed commit harm
I am among a growing number of Christians whose prayers for the death penalty’s continued demise are being answered. The latest year-end report from the Death Penalty Information Center provides abundant evidence. Once again, 2022 statistics show the death penalty continuing…
Image of the Cross led him to oppose death penalty
Activist and photographer Scott Langley said the direction of his life and ministry changed the moment he spotted and photographed a large Cross atop the state death chamber in Huntsville, Texas, in 1999. Langley was present on an execution day…
Jews and Christians unite to call for a better way than capital punishment
Jewish and Christian Scripture could play significant roles in the anti-death penalty movement if Americans would embrace their teachings on repentance and forgiveness, a panel of faith leaders said during a Nov. 7 webinar hosted by Uri L’Tzedek, a social…
Finding justice for both Maureen Faulkner and Mumia Abu-Jamal
Mumia Abu-Jamal, a Black American political activist and journalist, has been incarcerated since he was convicted in 1982 and sentenced to death for the 1981 murder of Daniel Faulkner, a Philadelphia police officer. When a federal judge overturned the 1982…
With court’s blessing, Texas pastor touches, prays over inmate as he is executed
The Texas Baptist pastor who found himself at the center of a Supreme Court case on religious liberty for Death Row inmates was able to fulfill that inmate’s wishes as he was put to death by the State of Texas…
He served on the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board, and now he’s rallying conservatives to oppose the death penalty
A former member of the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board has helped launch a new anti-death penalty group to educate fellow conservatives and lobby state lawmakers about the flaws of capital punishment. The new branch of Conservatives Concerned About the…