Missouri Catholic Conference welcomes stay of execution

Published: 2006-02-07

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (CNS) -- A Missouri Catholic Conference official welcomed a last-minute Supreme Court action to avert the execution of Michael Taylor, who was being held in the state prison in Bonne Terre. In a 6-3 ruling Feb. 1, the court rejected the state of Missouri's request to allow a midnight execution. The state had asked the court to lift the stay from an appeals court and allow the execution to proceed. The high court ruling also marked the first case to come before new Justice Samuel Alito Jr. Alito, who joined the majority, was confirmed by the Senate and sworn in just the day before. Taylor and his lawyers have argued that Missouri's method of execution -- by lethal injection -- is cruel and unusual punishment. Rita Linhardt, death penalty liaison for the Missouri conference, said Feb. 6 that, while the Catholic conference opposes all executions, the "roller-coaster" ride Taylor and his family went through over an execution that was on and off several times in the course of a few days illustrates that reaching the time of an execution is in itself cruel and unusual punishment.

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