The American Catholic • November2003 Page 4
The Death Penalty:
An Issue of Fairness
By Abraham J. Bonowitz
To use his words, Billy Kelley is “a thief, not a killer.”
Not long ago I spent a Sunday morning visiting with Billy in the death row visiting room at Union Correctional Facility at Raiford, Fla., the home of most of Florida’s death row. This man is innocent, and anyone who knows about this case understands that the real killer died years ago.In fact, the conservative, prodeath- penalty judge who ordered a new trial for Kelley also chastised the prosecutor for hiding evidence that would have been helpful to Kelley, and for lying to the court. At some point very soon, the very slow legal system will finally cough, and Billy Kelley will come out to join 25 other Florida death row exonerees, and more than 111 nationwide.
But sitting with Billy that Sunday morning, I was also among about 30 other death row prisoners and the people who were visiting them. These men, almost all guilty of the crimes they were convicted of, were sitting with parents, siblings, children, spouses, and friends. Despite the extreme evil that put most of those men into the situation of waiting to be exterminated, the word that best describes what I saw is humanity. What else can be said about seeing a young man covered in tattoos, pushing an old man in a wheel chair across the room as the two converse? How else can you describe a card game or a man playing checkers with a little girl or a couple discussing some bible verses? The only real difference between the family scenes taking place in this room and those taking place in households across this country is that these men are waiting to be killed. Their families are waiting, too.
Despite some of the most oppressive conditions in the country back in the cells where Florida death row prisoners spend 24 hours a day (with up to four hours of exercise a week when the weather cooperates), Florida’s death row visiting room is a rarity. The room is air conditioned, and for most prisoners, contact visits are allowed. The room is set up with several rows of metal tables with four seats at each. There are vending machines with a variety of meals, soda, candy, etc. available, and a microwave with which to heat things up. No one is in chains, and there are just a few guards in the room.
It is a relaxed atmosphere, and it is the one place where prisoners can be with people who are not part of the machine that is trying to kill them. Prisoners can shake hands and even hug their visitors, and play with their children. When the only daily human contact is with guards chaining you and treating you like a dangerous animal, imagine what it must be like to experience the touch of a loved one or the smile of a friend. Friendly human contact is an important need we often take for granted. On death row, only those lucky enough to have visits experience it.
While it is forbidden to mix with other parties, it is possible to say hello. Billy pointed out another man in the visiting room, Tommy Zeigler. “Man, he’s aged 10 years since I last saw him,” Billy said, recalling that it has only been two or three years since the two were last in the visiting room at the same time. Zeigler is another innocent man, now armed with DNA evidence that casts strong doubt on the state’s case against him. Zeigler has been waiting since January for the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to rule on his case. Kelley’s lawyers will argue before that court in October. Both men have been on Florida’s death row more than 20 years. Both will likely be freed in the next year or two.
It’s been years since I’ve visited on death row, and for me this opportunity was a good reminder of what solidified my opposition to the death penalty. I have not always opposed the death penalty. When I did begin to question the issue, what changed my mind were issues of fairness. I would argue, “If we can just make the death penalty fair and equal, then I’ll pull the switch myself.” Then, I got involved with murder victim family members who oppose the death penalty, and also death row family members. It was meeting and working with those people that helped me see the “collateral damage” of the death penalty. My mind was changed by the facts, but my heart was changed by the people who must live with the consequences of the tragedy of murder.
Still, as an activist on this very difficult issue, I feel it is important to keep a distance between myself and the individual cases of the people on death row. For me, it’s not about the individual prisoners. If it were, I would get stuck focusing on one or two cases, and the key to winning the struggle to abolish the death penalty would be lost. What is that key? Public education about the injustices of the legal system. In my experience, the core issue that we must focus on is the issue of fairness.
Most people on death row in the United States are in fact guilty as convicted, although it is equally true that most people who get a death sentence are not necessarily the “worst of the worst.” The factors that make the difference in who gets sentenced to death have more to do with race, politics, geography and money than the severity of the crime. Whole books have been written about each of those issues, so I will not address them here. (See reading suggestions at the end of this article.)
Because my mind was changed when I could no longer deny the unfairness of our legal system, I believe that most rational people in the United States can also be touched with an approach that challenges them as I was challenged. Often, the language I use sounds like this: “Set aside the concept of the death penalty, and look at the practice. If you believe in the ideal of fairness as a core component of ‘justice,’ then you cannot allow the death penalty to be used in the U.S. – not the way it is currently practiced.”
The question becomes: “What do we DO to bring about abolition of the death penalty?” The answer is education, first of ourselves, then of the people around us. The ultimate goal is to convince enough of the general population that the death penalty is bad public policy so that our politicians and policy makers no longer think that support for the death penalty is vital to winning election and re-election to public office. When that happens, legislators will be more likely to abolish the death penalty.
But we have to start at home. Despite current Catholic teaching and repeated admonitions from the pope that the death penalty is unnecessary and should be abolished, Catholics poll like the rest of the country – about 70% support the death penalty when asked. The same is true with just about every organized religion in the United States. With the exception of the Southern Baptists, most denominations have a policy statement in opposition to the death penalty, but that opposition does not filter down to the pulpits and the pews. That must be changed, and Catholic leadership at the highest level has taken some steps toward making that change happen. In fact, in its 1999 Good Friday statement, the United States Catholic Conference called on Catholics not just to oppose the death penalty, but to actively work against it.
Clearly, if despite the teachings of the Church that the death penalty is to be opposed, 70% of Catholics still favor it, then the moral approach cannot be the only approach taken. When preaching, a priest must be able to support moral teachings with concrete examples of the problems of the system. The same is true for anyone who hopes to plant seeds of doubt in the minds of Americans who think they support the death penalty. That is where self-education becomes vital before action is taken. Here are some things that individuals and groups can do to make a difference on this issue:
Educate yourself about the death penalty and its use in the United States of America.
Read a book.
Go to a lecture.
Visit a website.
Invite a death row survivor and/or a murder victim family member to speak in your church or other community.
Whatever you do, do it soon. Someone’s life may depend on it.
RECOMMENDED READINGS:
The Death Penalty -An Historical and Theological Survey, James Megivern
Among the Lowest of the Dead, David von Drehle
In Spite of Innocence, Hugo Adam Bedau, Michael Radelet
Dead Man Walking, Sister Helen Prejean, CSJ
WEBSITES:
GOOD GENERAL INFO:
www.deathpenaltyinfo.org
ACTIVISM: WWW.CUADP.ORG
CATHOLICS AGAINST CAPITAL PUNISHMENT:
For more suggested readings, as well as a full list of suggestions for action that can be taken as an individual or as part of a group, please call (800) 973-6548 or visit:
Abraham J. Bonowitz is the Director of Citizens United for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (CUADP). He may be contacted at: CUADP, PMB 297, 177 U.S. Hwy #1, Tequesta, FL 33469; 800-973-6548; http://www.cuadp.org/ ; cuadp@cuadp.org