Print Issue: January 23, 2003

Illinois Governor Raises Morality Of Death Penalty

By Father Joseph Fahy, CP, Commentary

The recent pardons and blanket commutations of death row inmates in Illinois highlight once again that capital punishment is still a serious moral issue.

On Jan. 10, then Gov. George Ryan of Illinois pardoned outright four men on death row. The following day, he commuted the death sentence of 163 men and four women. The former governor cited various reasons for these historic decisions. As many foreign journalists were present when Ryan delivered his address revealing his reasons for the commutations, his speech undoubtedly will have both domestic and international implications, and promote ongoing discussions about the justice, morality and prudence of capital punishment.

He said the death penalty is inconsistent with the claim, recognized by broad segments of the world's populations, that the U.S. "sets the example for justice and fairness for the rest of the world." The governor was concerned that the U.S. death penalty undermines America's support of human rights throughout the globe. The nations of Western Europe and almost all of Latin America have abolished capital punishment.

He also said capital punishment is often applied in a very selective and racially discriminatory fashion, varying from county to county, and from state to state:

"The death penalty in Illinois is not imposed fairly and uniformly . . . you are five times more likely to get a death sentence in the rural areas of this state (Illinois) than right here in Cook County (Chicago). Where is the fairness in this justice system?" A similar situation has existed in Georgia for decades.

Ryan also stated that "33 of the death row inmates were represented at trials by attorneys who later were disbarred or at some point suspended from the practice of law."

This observation alludes to one of the principal causes for the exoneration of 102 death row inmates since capital punishment was reestablished in 1976-the defendant's lack of competent counsel.

Indigent defendants, the immense majority in capital cases, are almost always too poor to hire capable defense attorneys. Since good lawyers make death penalty convictions more difficult, indigent defendants are often assigned unqualified defense attorneys. The defendant's right to counsel is often only as good as the lawyer who defends one.

Deplorable stories are frequent of defense lawyers who slept during parts of trials, who were drunk, who failed to interview key witnesses or make critically important interventions during trials, who were simply incompetent, untrained and uninterested. Such attorneys frustrated the defendant's right to counsel. Often a competent, trained defense lawyer makes the difference between life and death.

Ryan also stated that "more than two-thirds of the inmates on death row were African-Americans." A recent report, commissioned by Maryland's governor, corroborates the disproportionate percentage of African-Americans on death row. African-Americans are about 40 percent of death row inmates, but constitute only 11 percent of the American population. The report states that "blacks who kill whites are significantly more likely to face the death penalty in Maryland than blacks who kill blacks or white killers."

Many have been abused physically, psychologically and sexually. These destructive patterns have led some to a life of crime.

The fact that in capital cases, those who are opposed to capital punishment are systematically excluded from juries-a significant part of the population-makes it difficult for the jury to be "impartial," (Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution) and to be representative of the overall population and juries may be predisposed to seek the death penalty.

In 1996, Congress placed strict limits on appeals of writs of habeas corpus, the vehicle or process by which death row inmates can request federal courts to review their convictions, making it more difficult to detect irregularities and errors.

The trials of defendants in capital cases may run the risk of being extensively influenced by the desire for retribution and vengeance by the angry testimony of friends and relatives of those murdered and by vivid photos of victims of violence, often without allusion to the state-sponsored violence of execution.

The scope of this article does not permit consideration of other factors that have led to miscarriages of justice: the unavailability of advanced DNA testing, questionable psychiatric testimony, false, tainted information from unreliable jail house informers or "snitches" and coerced confessions of suspects.

Capital cases at times are excessively politicized. Politicians, judges, lawyers and police officials often fear being considered "soft" on crime. Research has yet to demonstrate that the death penalty is an effective deterrent to capital crime.

Pope John Paul II, in his important 1995 encyclical letter "The Gospel of Life," states the need for capital punishment is "very rare, if not practically non-existent."

Subsequently, he made even a stronger plea for the abolition of the death penalty. In November 1998 the pope visited St. Louis and met the then governor, the late Mel Carnahan. The pontiff requested that Gov. Carnahan spare the life of death row inmate Darrell Mease. A jury had convicted Mease. Appeals to various courts had been rejected. In spite of much criticism, Gov. Carnahan, a pro-death penalty advocate, moved by the pope's plea for clemency and his visit, commuted Mease's sentence.

The pope had urged America to "resist the culture of death and choose to stand steadfastly on the side of life."

The U.S. Catholic bishops echo the pope's sentiments: "We oppose capital punishment not just for what it does to those guilty of horrible crimes, but what it does for us as a society."

The most moving example of forgiveness is that of our crucified Lord. Though completely innocent, He was cruelly executed in the prime of life by the state, repeating: "Father, forgive them for they know not what they are doing." (Lk 23:34)

Advocates for a moratorium on the death penalty do not condone the wanton violence of capital crimes and recognize the need for just punishment. However, they urge a moratorium on the death penalty to avoid the tragic miscarriage of justice by executing the innocent, to promote respect for the sanctity of life, to afford compensation to relatives of the victims, for religious conversions, rehabilitation, to diminish the cycle of violence, to make more consistent the U.S. promotion of human rights domestically and abroad, and, above all, to imitate the gracious mercy of our compassionate and merciful God.

Father Fahy, a Passionist priest, works in the archdiocesan Hispanic Apostolate.