Campaign '04: Kerry, Bush at near-opposite extremes on death penalty

Published: 2004-09-03

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Should Sen. John F. Kerry be elected in November, the United States would have as president its strongest opponent of the death penalty in at least the last half-century, capital punishment opponents believe. Kerry would be "the most anti-death penalty president elected in the modern era," according to David Elliot of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. Between the Massachusetts Democrat and his Republican opponent, President George W. Bush, there are clear distinctions when it comes to capital punishment. The topic is among a series of issues addressed by the U.S. Catholic bishops in their election-year publication, "Faithful Citizenship: A Catholic Call to Political Responsibility." As governor of Texas, Bush signed off on 152 executions. As president, he has maintained his support for the death penalty. Three men have been executed under federal law while he has been in office, the first federal executions since 1963. (In 1972 the Supreme Court overturned death penalty laws. A revised federal law was enacted in 1988.) Kerry has said he opposes capital punishment except in cases involving terrorism. While he may have voted in favor of some omnibus crime bills that included expansions of capital punishment, on stand-alone legislation Kerry has opposed the death penalty in a variety of ways.

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