WASHINGTON—Following
the Washington Supreme Court’s ruling striking down the state death penalty
statute, Bishop Frank J. Dewane of Venice, Florida, Chairman of the
USCCB’s Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, welcomed
the decision and reiterated the Church’s call to end
the death penalty.

The
full statement of Bishop Dewane follows:

“The
Washington Supreme Court is to be commended for its unanimous decision to
strike down the state death penalty statute. In his 2015 address to
the U.S. Congress, Pope Francis called for ‘the global abolition
of the death penalty,’ as he explained, ‘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. . . . [A] just and necessary punishment must
never exclude the dimension of hope and the goal of
rehabilitation.’

“In
the Court’s opinion, the death penalty was deemed ‘invalid because it is
imposed in an arbitrary and racially biased manner.’ This echoes one of
the reasons to oppose the death penalty that the bishops gave in their 2005
statement A Culture of Life and the Penalty of Death:

[The death penalty’s] application is deeply flawed and
can be irreversibly wrong, is prone to errors, and is biased by factors such as
race, the quality of legal representation, and where the crime was committed.

“We
join the Catholic Bishops of Washington, the
Washington State Catholic Conference, the Catholic Mobilizing
Network, and all people of good will in welcoming this development and
persevering in the work to end the death penalty.”

—

Keywords: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, USCCB, Bishop
Frank Dewane, Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, death
penalty, Washington Supreme Court, Pope Francis, A Culture of Life and the
Penalty of Death, Washington
State Catholic Conference, Catholic Mobilizing Network, rehabilitation

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Media Contact:

Judy
Keane

202-541-3200

Source:: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops