State’s Religious Leaders: End the Death Penalty
Dozens of religious leaders rallied in Hartford Tuesday to advocate the abolition of Connecticut’s capital punishment law
In the North BranfordPatch online
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.
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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.”
Lobbying by letter against death penalty
In the Waterbury Republican/American online
The Rev. Scott Nessel, a Lutheran minister from Southbury, and the Rev. Louise Kalemkerian, an Episcopal minister from Thomaston, pray that Connecticut abolishes capital punishment soon.
Sometimes prayers are not enough when dealing with earthly powers, however.
Nessel and Kalmkerian joined more than 300 other clergy members a letter-writing campaign to urge state lawmakers to repeal the death penalty.
The plea from faith leaders comes as the legislature’s Judiciary Committee readies to vote on legislation that would abolish capital punishment going forward.