Spain: Jews receive apology over Spanish Inquisition executions

The leader of Majorca has become the 1st government official to apologise for the execution of Jews during the Spanish Inquisition -- centuries after the events.

Francesc Antich, the regional president of the Balearic Islands, issued an official condemnation of the killings in what was heralded by Jewish groups as the first of its kind in Spain.

"We have dared to gather here to recognise the grave injustice committed against those Majorcans who were accused, persecuted, charged and condemned to death for their faith and their beliefs," Mr Antich said at a memorial service held in Palma de Majorca.

At the end of the 15th century King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella set up the Spanish Inquisition to root out remnants of Islam and Judaism after the reconquest of Spain. Over the following two centuries thousands of so-called heretics were burned at the stake.

Following the order to convert or leave the country, the majority of Spain's Jews fled to safer shores while many of those left behind publicly converted to Roman Catholicism yet practised their true faith in secret.

34 Jews were garroted and their bodies thrown on to bonfires in 1691. 3 others, including a rabbi, were burned alive.

Mr Antich said the purpose of the recognition was to "recover part of that memory" of Majorca's dark past and recognise the violence and discrimination that converts faced for centuries.

An estimated 15,000 people living in Majorca are thought to be descendants of the island's Jews, though almost all are Catholic.

The Israel-based group that came up with the proposal for the ceremony lauded the event as "an important gesture of reconciliation".

Source: The Telegraph, May 6, 2011

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Irishman, the last person executed in Rhode Island set to be exonerated 166 years after

“Poor Johnny Gordon”, the wronged Irish Catholic immortalized in this infamous ballad by the same name, may find some good fortune yet. That is 166 years after the Irishman was unfairly hanged on a murder charge.

State officials are looking to exonerate him after opening the cold case. The Catholic Church and the American Civil Liberties Union are lending their support.

Mr. Gordon was the last person to be hanged in Rhode Island. The death penalty was abolished 7 years after his death on February 14th 1845. In 1870 capital punishment was reinstated but abolished in the 1980s.

Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee may be called upon by legislators to pardon Gordon. The governor supports this measure. “I think it's appropriate as a symbolic gesture. There could have been errors. There could have been emotional issues at play."

Anti-Irish sentiment was rampant during the late 19th century in Rhode Island. This is believed to be the motive behind Gordon’s death. History and law professor Patrick Conley commented on the social climate for Irish Catholics during this time. 'It was the temper of the times. Bigotry, hostility toward Irish Catholics was widespread.'

Gordon sought a better life in this country after escaping the potato famine in 1943. His brothers ran a profitable bar. A well-heeled Yankee mill owner, Amassa Sprague, wanted the tavern closed because he claimed his workers spent too much time at the tavern. He used his family connections in the Senate to shut down the pub. Mysteriously Sprague was murdered.

Johnny Gordon was arrested on the grounds of conspiracy to murder Sprague in retaliation for having the bar’s license revoked. The circumstances surrounding his 9 day trial were suspect. For starters the jurors were instructed by the judge to “give more weight to the Yankee jurors than the Irish ones”.

Also a gun was discovered near the body. Witnesses claim they saw the brothers carrying a weapon days before.

A prostitute testified that she heard one of the brothers vowing to kill Sprague in spite of her inability to tell any of the brothers apart. It was later revealed that this woman was in the employ of Sprague.

After 75 minutes of deliberation Gordon was found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging. The sentence was carried out against the wishes of the governor and the General Assembly.

His funeral prosession was attended by thousands. He is buried in a church cemetery in Pawtucket.

The effort to find Gordon innocent is important in preventing this history from repeating itself.

Father Bernard Healy echoes this sentiment. 'John Gordon was put to death because he was Catholic. It was Catholics in the 19th century. Who will it be this century?'

Source: Irishcentral.com, April 8, 2011

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Connecticut's Religious Leaders Say End the Death Penalty

Dozens of Religious Leaders Rally in Hartford to Advocate the Abolition of Connecticut's Capital Punishment Law

Calling it the just and moral thing to do, dozens of religious leaders from the state’s Christian and Jewish communities gathered at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford Tuesday to petition the General Assembly to repeal Connecticut’s death penalty law.

“There are times where sometimes we have theological debates about things in which we disagree, however when it comes to the death penalty this is one item that members of major denominations agree, there is consensus that the death penalty should be abolished,” said State Rep. Bruce Morris, D-Norwalk, who also serves as a minister and emceed Tuesday’s proceedings.

The religious leaders presented Morris and State Rep. Gary Holder-Winfield, D-New Haven, with a letter signed by more than 300 clergy supporting passage of House Bill 5036, a bill introduced by Holder-Winfield that would abolish Connecticut’s death penalty. Speakers advocated replacing the state’s capital punishment law with a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of release for the state’s most violent convicted murderers.

“As people of faith, we reaffirm our opposition to the death penalty and belief in the sacredness of human life,” the letter stated. “We urge you, our elected officials, to examine the reality of Connecticut’s death penalty and seek ways to achieve true healing for those who suffer because of violent crime. Please support repeal of the death penalty. It is time for Connecticut to move beyond this broken and harmful system.”

Speakers argued that the death penalty was an “ineffective, unfair and fallible” response to violent crimes.

“The death penalty applies disproportionately to the poor and minorities and puts innocent lives at risk of execution,” Morris said. “Since 1973, 138 individuals sentenced to death were later exonerated of their crimes. When a human life is at stake, there’s simply no room for error.”

James Curry, a Bishop from the Episcopal Church, said that he has spoken to the victims of many families who feel that the death penalty only adds to their pain and suffering, because of lengthy trials and appeals and the notoriety associated with the cases.

“By abolishing the death penalty, we in Connecticut have an opportunity to affirm and respect our dignity as a society,” Curry said. “…Life imprisonment without possibility of release is a punishment that can respect the needs of a victim’s family for closure in the legal process, it can respect their needs for justice, and it can respect the memory of all their loved ones.”

Peter Rosazza, a Bishop from the Connecticut Catholic Conference, said that the Catholic Church opposes the death penalty because it violates the sanctity of life.

“Human life is a gift from god that must be respected from conception to natural death,” Rosazza said. “Our profound respect for human life also explains why we are opposed to any attack against human life, including abortion and euthanasia.”

Rosazza noted that Connecticut was the last state in New England to abolish slavery, adding “we hope it is not the last state to abolish the death penalty.”

Rabbi Donna Berman said that the death penalty went against the Jewish tradition and was not an effective deterrent.

“Even in ancient times there were those who felt that capital punishment was a deterrent to crime, but they represented the minority opinion,” Berman said. “In our own day, studies show that capital punishment is in fact not a deterrent. The truth is we can deter crime and protect society just as effectively, more effectively, with life imprisonment without the possibility of release. In this way we can avoid the very real risk of taking an innocent life.”

The death penalty has always been a hot button issue in Connecticut, but has risen in prominence the past several years due to a brutal 2007 Cheshire home invasion. Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her two daughters, Hayley, 17, and Michaela, 11, were sexually assaulted and murdered in their home after a failed robbery attempt. One man, Steven Hayes, 47, was convicted in 2010 and sentenced to death, while another, Joshua Komisarjevsky, is currently on trial for the crime. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Komisarjevsky.

Both houses of the legislature approved a bill to veto the death penalty in 2009, but then governor vetoed the bill, citing the Cheshire home invasion.

Holder-Winfield said he expected the General Assembly’s Judiciary Committee to vote on the current bill within a week. He said he expected the bill to pass, and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy to sign it into law.

“The work that I’m doing on the death penalty comes out of both my religious faith and my sense for justice,” Holder-Winfield said.

During his campaign, Malloy, a former federal prosecutor, repeatedly stated he was opposed to the death penalty.

In the most recent Quinnipiac University Poll on the subject, released March 10, 67 percent of Connecticut residents said they supported the death penalty, compared to 28 percent who said they opposed it.

The event was originally intended to be held on the steps of the state capitol, but was moved indoors because of the weather.

Source: Montville Patch, April 6, 2011

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Catholic Bishops Urge Illinois Governor to Sign Bill Ending Death Penalty

WASHINGTON (March 3, 2011)—Signing a bill to end the use of the death penalty would “begin building a culture of life in our country,” said the bishop who oversees the domestic justice efforts of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) in a letter to the governor of Illinois.

In his March 3 letter, Bishop Stephen Blaire of Stockton, California, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, joined the bishops of Illinois in urging Governor Pat Quinn to sign SB 3539, a bill that would end the use of the death penalty in Illinois and provide funds for training for law enforcement and services for families of murder victims.

“I hope and pray that you will take this essential step by signing SB 3539 and further Illinois’ leadership role in turning away from the death penalty with all its moral problems and issues of fairness and justice,” wrote Bishop Blaire.

Bishop Blaire also cited the opposition of both Pope Benedict XVI and Pope John Paul II to the death penalty and quoted the 2005 statement of the U.S. bishops, A Culture of Life and the Penalty of Death: “Even when people deny the dignity of others, we must still recognize that their dignity is a gift from God and is not something that is earned or lost through their behavior. Respect for life applies to all, even the perpetrators of terrible acts. Punishment should be consistent with the demands of justice and with respect for human life and dignity.”

The full text of Bishop Blaire’s letter follows:

Dear Governor Quinn:

On behalf of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, I join the Catholic bishops of Illinois and urge you to sign SB 3539, which would end the use of the death penalty in Illinois and provide funds for training for law enforcement and services to families of murder victims.

Pope Benedict XVI and his predecessor, Pope John Paul II, have called for the end to the use of the death penalty as a sign of greater respect for all human life. In A Culture of Life and the Penalty of Death, the Catholic bishops of the United States wrote “Even when people deny the dignity of others, we must still recognize that their dignity is a gift from God and is not something that is earned or lost through their behavior. Respect for life applies to all, even the perpetrators of terrible acts. Punishment should be consistent with the demands of justice and with respect for human life and dignity.” The legislation before you would help to begin building a culture of life in our country.

I hope and pray that you will take this essential step by signing SB 3539 and further Illinois’ leadership role in turning away from the death penalty with all its moral problems and issues of fairness and justice.

Sincerely,

Most Rev. Stephen E. Blaire

Bishop of Stockton

Chairman, USCCB Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development

Source: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, March 3, 2011

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Catholic bishops ask Ohio to end executions

Ohio's Catholic bishops yesterday joined the chorus of those urging state leaders to abolish the death penalty, and a Franklin County legislator said he will introduce a bill proposing to repeal the state's 30-year-old capital-punishment law.

The call from church leaders comes on the heels of anti-death-penalty comments by Ohio Supreme Court Justice Paul E. Pfeifer, a Republican who helped write the state's original death-penalty law, and Terry Collins, a former state prisons director who witnessed 33 executions.

"Just punishment can occur without resorting to the death penalty," said yesterday's statement signed by 10 Catholic church leaders, including Archbishop Dennis M. Schnurr of Cincinnati, who is chairman of the Catholic Conference of Ohio, and Columbus Bishop Frederick F. Campbell.

"Our Church teachings consider the death penalty to be wrong in almost all cases. Every human being is a child of God, no matter what sins the person commits."

Rep. Ted Celeste, D-Grandview Heights, said he hopes to spark a civil dialogue about capital punishment when he introduces a bill in the next week or 2 to abolish the death penalty.

"What stimulated it for me was the recent numbers that showed Ohio was 2nd only to Texas in the number of executions," he said.

Ohio executed 8 people last year, the most since 1949, and has put to death 41 since resuming executions in 1999. Ohio was the only state to execute more people in 2010 than the previous year.

Celeste said he hopes the bill becomes part of the upcoming budget debate, in which lawmakers will be looking for ways to fill an estimated $8 billion shortfall. Data have shown that incarcerating someone for life is considerably less expensive because of the many appeals tied to death-penalty cases.

Collins wrote in a recent column published in The Dispatch that the death penalty's cost to counties and the state "is not a fiscally responsible policy for Ohio."

"The death penalty is expensive, often inefficient and always time-consuming," he wrote. "Too often our justice system does not place the worst of the worst on death row."

Pfeifer argued that the death penalty is being used in cases for which it was never intended.

"I think the time's right on this one," he said in January. "You have Republicans in every direction. ... With that political configuration, it would be the most opportune time to seriously debate and discuss whether or not we have the death penalty."

Celeste said he also is concerned that the death penalty is not uniformly applied around the state. "Some counties may never choose the death penalty because it is too expensive. It doesn't really afford equal justice."

He is not sure whether his bill could affect the 157 inmates on death row.

Ohio's next scheduled execution, of triple-murderer Frank Spisak of Cuyahoga County, is Feb. 17. Another execution is set for March, and prosecutors around the state have asked the state Supreme Court to set dates for 13 more convicted killers.

Gov. John Kasich and Attorney General Mike DeWine were among the state senators who voted for Ohio's death-penalty bill in 1981, and they still back it. House Speaker William G. Batchelder, R-Medina, supports the death penalty, a spokesman said.

County prosecutors have traditionally opposed efforts to end capital punishment.

Source: Columbus Dispatch, Feb. 5, 2011

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Hospira to Stop Making Lethal-Injection Drug

The sole U.S. maker of a key execution drug has decided to permanently halt production of the drug, which could lead many states to face delay in carrying out the death penalty.

The decision made on Friday by Hospira Inc. caps months of controversy over thiopental sodium, an anesthetic that has long been used by states as a part of a cocktail of drugs administered during a lethal injection.

Hospira's decision puts a wrench in the nation's capital-punishment system. States can attempt to use another anesthetic in place of thiopental, but such a switch likely would need to be approved by courts and possibly state legislators.

Many states have run out of thiopental, forcing prison officials to delay executions. The drug shortage followed a 2009 decision by Hospira to suspend production due to manufacturing issues.

The Lake Forrest, Ill., company had planned to resume producing thiopental in the first quarter of 2011 at a company plant in Liscate, Italy. But in December, the Italian parliament issued an order binding the government to ensure that Hospira's Italian-made thiopental would not be used in lethal injections.

In the face of that opposition, Hospira ultimately decided to exit the thiopental market, said company spokeswoman Tareta Adams. "This will be a challenge for [medical] customers and we regret that," Ms. Adams said. "But we don't want to put our Italian facility at risk that the product will be misused" by U.S. prisons.

Hospira, she said, has had discussions with its drug distributors to see if the companies could block the drug from being sold to prisons, but Hospira ultimately decided there was no way to ensure the drug would not be "misused" by prisons.

Late last year, a drug used to euthanize animals was approved for use in capital punishment in Oklahoma. The shortage of thiopental sodium had prompted the state to seek court clearance to use pentobarbital as a substitute.

U.S. District Judge Stephen Friot in November approved the use of pentobarbital and denied requests to delay the executions of two Oklahoma inmates, whose attorneys had protested its use.

The state has said in court filings that veterinarians regard pentobarbital "as an ideal anesthetic agent for humane euthanasia in animals" and that it is "substantially" similar to thiopental.

Judge Friot's ruling could prompt other states to use pentobarbital, and thus prevent delays in capital punishment. In the early 1970s, Oklahoma was the first state to approve the use of thiopental in capital punishment, and it later become the nationwide standard for lethal injections.

Source: The Wall Street Journal, January 21, 2011

How Italian Catholics pulled the plug on US executions

The news has broken today that the sole US manufacturer of a key drug used in lethal injections will cease production because authorities in Italy, where the drug was to be made, wanted a guarantee that it wouldn't be used to put inmates to death.

Hospira Inc. of Lake Forest, Ill, had decided to switch production of the anaesthetic sodium thiopental from its North Carolina plant to Liscate, outside of Milan. But the Italian Parliament wanted the company to control the product's distribution to prevent it being used for executions. Hospira decided it couldn't make that promise and has decided to suspend production -- potentially throwing the death penalty system in the US into disarray.

But what's missing from today's reports is that behind the Italian Parliament's insistence is a lay Catholic movement dedicated -- among many other things - to the eradication of the death penalty around the world. The Rome-based Community of Sant'Egidio had been engaged in discussions with Hospira's Italian subsidiary, Hospira SL, which led to meetings with the Foreign Affairs minister, Franco Frattini, and the Ministry of Health. The result of those meetings was an agreement that the production of the drug in Italy would have to be for strictly therapeutic purposes. The company has long deplored its use in executions, and said it regretted the need to cease production.

Hospira's choice to end production because it couldn't give that guarantee was described as "highly responsible" by Sant'Egidio's spokesman, Mario Marazziti, who said: "It highlights the point that therapeutic drugs and doctors should never be used to bring about death".

Sodium thiopental is already in short supply after the British government last November also banned the UK manufacture of the drug following a campaign by the British NGO Reprieve. According to the Wall Street Journal's law blog, Hospira's decision means the death penalty system in the US "is potentially thrown into turmoil". States can attempt to use another anaesthetic instead -- Oklahoma, for example, has switched to a drug used to euthanise cats and dogs -- but it involves seeking clearance from the courts, which is likely to delay executions.

There is a lesson here about globalization. It's not just the market that's gone global. It's civil society pressure, too.

Source: America Magazine, January 21, 2011


States Face Shortage of Key Lethal Injection Drug

The sole American manufacturer of an anesthetic widely used in lethal injections said Friday that it would no longer produce the drug, a move likely to delay more executions and force states to adopt new drug combinations.

The manufacturer, Hospira Inc., of Lake Forest, Ill., had originally planned to resume production of the drug, sodium thiopental, this winter at a plant in Italy, giving state corrections departments hope that the scarcity that began last fall would ease.

But the Italian authorities said they would not permit export of the drug if it might be used for capital punishment. Hospira said in a statement Friday that its aim was to serve medical customers, but that “we could not prevent the drug from being diverted to departments of corrections” and the company did not want to expose itself to liability in Italy.

Hospira does not have domestic facilities that can make sodium thiopental, said Daniel Rosenberg, a spokesman, and has decided to “exit the market.” No other American companies manufacture the drug, which has largely been supplanted by alternatives in hospitals but is used by 34 of the 35 states that use lethal injection to carry out the death penalty. An average of 55 executions have taken place annually over the last 10 years, with 46 last year and 52 in 2009, virtually all of them by lethal injection.

During what had been described as a temporary halt to production last year, scarcity of sodium thiopental led to delays in scheduled executions in at least two states, California and Oklahoma.

The extent to which execution schedules will be further disrupted by the drug shortage is not yet clear, but it could be considerable. In many states, adopting a new protocol for lethal injections requires formal proposals, public comment and often challenges in court — a process that can take months or more, said Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center. But in others, switching drugs might be done more quickly, by administrative fiat.

Lethal injections commonly involve a sequence of three drugs that is set by state regulations: an anesthetic — sodium thiopental in every state but Oklahoma — intended to prevent pain, followed by a muscle relaxant and a drug that stops the heart.

As the shortage became acute last fall, California and Arizona obtained shipments of sodium thiopental from England, but the British government has since refused to allow exports of drugs for use in capital punishment, a policy that is under consideration by the entire European Union.

Those were two of several special shipments to corrections departments permitted by the Food and Drug Administration in 2009 and 2010, said Christopher Kelly, a spokesman for the agency. “No shipments are currently being held,” Mr. Kelly said on Friday.

Texas, which carries out more executions than any other state, has an aging stock of sodium thiopental that will expire in March, leaving it unusable.

“There currently are four executions scheduled in Texas — two in February, one in May and one in July,” said Michelle Lyons, director of public information at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. “At this time, we have enough sodium thiopental on hand to carry out the two executions scheduled in February. In March, our supply of this particular drug is set to expire.”

“The Texas Department of Criminal Justice will explore other options, including possibly seeking an alternate drug for use in Texas’ lethal injection process,” she said in an e-mail.

Two states, Ohio and Washington, use only one drug, sodium thiopental, which is fatal at larger doses for executions.

“What I can tell you is Ohio does have enough sodium pentothal to carry out the execution scheduled in February,” said JoEllen Smith, a spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, using an alternate name for the drug. “But beyond that we are going to decline to comment on our supply of the lethal injection drug.”

Officials in Washington said that they had not had time to consider how to adapt to the news that sodium thiopental will no longer be available. The state has seven people on death row, but no executions are currently scheduled.

Officials in Arizona, where 134 people are on death row, said they had enough sodium thiopental for five executions, although none are currently scheduled.

Many states are expected to follow the lead of Oklahoma, substituting pentobarbital — another, more easily available anesthetic — in a similar three-drug sequence.

Pentobarbital is widely used in veterinary medicine and is also used in legal human euthanasia in Oregon. Death penalty opponents challenged the switch last year in Oklahoma, arguing that the effectiveness of pentobarbital in preventing pain during executions had not been proved. But a federal judge sided with the state, which has since used the new drug in three executions.

Jerry Massie, a spokesman for the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, said the department orders the drug through a “private pharmacist” but would not specify who.

Only one company, Lundbeck Inc., now markets injectable pentobarbital in the United States, according to the F.D.A., but the agency said it was not aware of any shortage.      

Source: The New York Times, January 22, 2011
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Saddam Hussein’s only Christian cabinet member seeks presidential pardon

Lawyers for the only Iraqi Christian in the late Saddam Hussein’s inner circle requested recently for a presidential pardon for their client from death by hanging.

Attorneys for Tariq Aziz, the former vice prime minister of Saddam Hussein, opted for a presidential pardon rather than appeal the death sentence Aziz was given for the complicity in the persecution of Shiite Muslims under Saddam, the AP said.

Aziz’ sentence sparked international requests for leniency and/or amnesty from the Vatican, Greece, Moscow and anti-death penalty European countries, the UPI said. It is largely believed that under Saddam, Christians in Iraq were protected because of Aziz.

Giovanni Di Stefano, lawyer of Aziz, said his client was hardly involved in the despot’s ethnic cleansing of the Shiites, and noted that there were no witnesses in the trial who could prove otherwise, according to the AP.

Di Stefano also cited several constitutional issues that absolve Aziz and said, “It is thus necessary that in all democratic societies where the judiciary potentially or even remotely fails the constitution, the president is duty bound to intervene. The powers of pardon are granted to ensure that injustice does not occur,” according to UPI.

Unjust, vengeful

Archbishop Louis Sako of Kirkuk said that Aziz “could not oppose the government of Saddam Hussein, since those who dared to express a different opinion were killed,” the Catholic News Agency reported.

Sako said the death sentence is “unjust” and “an act of vengeance that will not help bring about peace,” according to the Catholic News Agency.

Risky

According to the AP, the move for presidential pardon is risky. Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, after five years in office, has granted minimal to no pardons, and even if he does, there are constitutional means to bypass it.

The AP said this could be done through an act of parliament, or with the approval of a deputy of Talabani. Furthermore, the constitution only permits presidential pardon “on the recommendation of the prime minister,” who is Nouri al-Maliki of the Shiite Dawa party, one of Saddam’s victims.

If a pardon is not granted, Aziz could be hanged at any time. However, the appeals court has no time limit for deciding whether to uphold or reverse a sentence, the AP said.

An unnamed Justice Ministry official told the AP that appeals tend to focus on specific objections unlike the government, making it a better option for Aziz. However, because the 30-day period to file an appeal has lapsed, it is all moot.

Unfazed

Di Stefano is not fazed by constitutional limits and said an appeal would only waste time because he doubted the court would reverse the sentence adding, “If the trial was unfair, then imagine the appeal.”

Instead, Di Stefano said with the many international appeals, a presidential pardon provides “the diplomatic solution people have been waiting for.” He said Aziz does not seek special treatment for being a Christian, but “He seeks the pardon as a step toward reconciliation of Iraq. Enough people have been killed, enough people have been executed,” the AP reported.

Archbishop Sako said that death penalty sentences show a government is weak. He said Iraq should ban the death penalty “so that the country can truly develop towards democracy and reconciliation,” Catholic News Agency reported.

Last week Talabani, when speaking to reporters from Paris, said that he wouldn’t sign the execution warrant of Aziz, according to the UPI.

Source: The Underground, November 26, 2010