I guess there is no bad place to call for an end to execution. But Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly Love, is a really divine place for His Holiness to denounce death.
Just this year, Governor Tom Wolf announced a halt on all executions in Pennsylvania, citing deep concerns about errors and biases inherent in the system.
A recent study shows that a majority of death sentences are coming from only 2 percent of U.S. counties. Philadelphia County has the third largest death row population of any county, and nearly 70 of those cases have been overturned for faulty evidence.
Studies consistently show that the race of the victim, the county where a crime is committed, and access to financial resources often determine who will get the death penalty more than the severity of the crime. As death penalty lawyer Bryan Stevenson, founder of Equal Justice Initiative, said, “We have a system of justice in this country that treats you much better if you're rich and guilty than if you're poor and innocent.”
We now have over 150 people who have been released from death row because of new evidence — the latest in early September. Six of those exonerations are from Pennsylvania — people who could have been wrongfully executed.
On Sept. 16, Oklahoma plans to execute Richard Glossip, whose case is riddled with errors — causing many to believe he is innocent (over 270,000 have signed the petition asking for his life to be spared). Like Spradley, Glossip is being convicted solely on the testimony of one witness (who confessed to the crime and got life), and with no physical evidence linking Glossip to the crime.
So this is the time to abolish the death penalty.
Recent polls show that for the first time in decades a majority of Americans prefer life in prison over the death penalty. And this is even more pronounced among young people — including young people of faith, who are deeply troubled that 85 percent of executions take place in the Bible Belt.
The pope’s voice is desperately needed on this issue — after all, Catholics have had a consistent ethic of life that shapes their thinking on issues like capital punishment, and many evangelicals are resonating with Catholics’ seamless garment of a consistent life ethic.
Victims’ groups, such as Journey of Hope, Murder Victims’ Families for Reconciliation, and the Forgiveness Project, are gaining traction as they insist that capital punishment creates a new set of victims and perpetuates violence instead of healing. As you listen to them, you can’t help but be convinced that we can do better than killing to show that killing is wrong.
Just this year we saw Nebraska become the first conservative-led state in 40 years to abolish the death penalty — and several may be right behind. In many states, political conservatives concerned about the high cost of the death penalty are leading the way, pointing out that all the money wasted on the death penalty could be better used to support victims, prevent crime, and repair broken schools and families.
Pennsylvania — home of the original U.S. capital, the birthplace of American democracy, the iconic site of the Declaration of Independence — holds an important place in American history. And a part of that history is that our Commonwealth was founded by Quakers, who first denounced slavery in 1688, nearly 200 years before it was brought to an end.
I can’t help but think old William Penn would be proud of Gov. Wolf earlier this year as he made his announcement to halt all executions. Penn was a pacifist and a serious skeptic of capital punishment. His Quaker heritage held that every human being carries the essence of God, and that no one should ever take the life of another, not even the state.
As Pope Francis leads worship on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in the heart of Philadelphia, a statue of William Penn will be looking down on him from atop City Hall, and I can’t help but think our Quaker forefather will be smiling — especially as Pope Francis continues to insist that every person carries the image of God in them… and that no one is beyond redemption.
I look forward to the end of the death penalty, and I hope we get one step closer to it as the pope comes to the City of Brotherly Love.
Shane Claiborne is a Red Letter Christian and a founding partner of The Simple Way community, a radical faith community in Philadelphia. His newest book is Executing Grace: Why It is Time to Put the Death Penalty to Death.
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