Oregon: Death penalty's problems pointed out at parish meeting

The movement to abolish the death penalty in Oregon is trying to gain momentum via Catholic parishes, with panel presentations for worshipers.

In the coming years, Oregon voters can expect a ballot measure that would outlaw executions. Opponents of the death penalty would replace it with life in prison without parole.

The debate moved to Portland's West Hills late last month with a discussion at St. Elizabeth of Hungary Church. Several dozen parishioners listened and asked questions as three leading death penalty foes made their arguments. Not everyone in the room agreed, but did listen patiently, hearing that their faith's leaders have come to see capital punishment as unncessary.

"The Catholic Church opposes it," said Ron Steiner, a member of Queen of Peace Parish in Salem and a leader in Oregonians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty. "The last several popes have spoken out, as have the U.S. bishops and our archbishop."

Steiner told the group that the Catholic catechism forbids inflicting injury once a belligerant is rendered unable to do harm. Pope John Paul II in 1995 said that modern methods of incarceration made the conditions for moral executions "very rare, if not practically nonexistent."

St. Elizabeth Parish has joined Oregonians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, which also includes the Archdiocese of Portland, the Benedictine Sisters, St. Andrew Parish, St. Joseph the Worker Parish and the St. Philip Neri Parish Peace and Justice Commission.

Paulist Father Jim Kolb, the pastor at St. Elizabeth's, speaks from the pulpit, explaining church opposition. It's a contradiction, Father Kolb says, to work to end violence by committing acts of violence.

Jean Horton, a St. Elizabeth parishioner, has opposed the death penalty for a long time. She sees it as revenge and a failed deterrent. Her opposition, she says, emerges from a consistent pro-life ethic.

Tim Taylor, another parishioner and former Clackamas County sheriff's deputy, told panelists that only execution can prevent repeat offenses. Prisons may protect the public from convicted murderers, but prison staff and other inmates are at risk from those serving life sentences, Taylor argued.

"Some of these guys are sociopaths with no conscience," Taylor said. "How can you guarantee safety?"

Though the church emphasizes the moral arguments, others say the death penalty system is too costly to keep. Appeals go on for years and court costs mount up.

Some analysts say a death penalty case costs 10 times more than other aggravated murder cases.

David McNeil, a local attorney who favors repeal of the death penalty, says that local prosecutors use the death penalty as tool to get plea bargains, but don't have to pay many of the bills, which mostly go to the state. In other states, like Washington, local prosecutors pick up the tab and so the number of capital cases has dropped.

Oregon spends about $20 million per year on the death penalty, though it rarely carries out executions. The last one was in 1997 and one slated for this year is on hold pending a new psychologial analysis of the inmate. The capital case for Gary Haugen will cost an estimated $1 million.

"Even for people who support the death penalty, we don't kill anyone in Oregon unless once in awhile a volunteer pops up," said Sen. Ginny Burdick, a state senator who represents the area that includes St. Elizabeth's. "All that money comes out of education, it comes out of programs that might make less crime take place. It's a really stupid policy."

Steiner says that the state would deter much more crime by increasing spending on police, early childhood intervention and other anti-poverty programs.

Some in the crowd asked what the movement offers families of victims. Another listener, criminal defense attorney Vince Deguc, spoke up. He said death penalty cases hurt the victims because they drag on for years, preventing healing.

Panelsist told the group that 138 death row inmates have been exonerated in recent years because of judicial missteps and newly revealed evidence.

"Do we want to deal with our tragedies in as coldly and judgemental a fashion as to say, 'You're life is no longer valuable,'?" McNeil asked listeners. "Or do we look at it as a tragedy and ask 'How can we best prevent the violence?'"

Source: The Catholic Sentinel, September 4, 2011