Death Penalty News

Sister Helen Prejean (Photo: Franck Dennis) Sister Helen Prejean, a Sister of St. Joseph, ministers to prisoners on death row. She is the author of "Dead Man Walking." The views expressed are her own. I'm praying for Justice Antonin Scalia, that his passage into eternity was peaceful. I respect his sincerity, even though on the subject of the death penalty, he was my nemesis. As I was writing "The Death of Innocents," I happened to run into him in an airport, and I said teasingly that I was "taking him on" in my book. And he, personable as he was, jabbed his finger in the air and said, "And I'll be right back at ya!" In "Innocents," I wrote about 2 men I believe were innocent: Joseph O'Dell and Dobie Gillis Williams, whose executions Scalia summarily authorized without an apparent qualm, acknowledging that his role on the Supreme Court made him part of the "machinery of death." Scalia's exp...

MAJOR BREAKING NEWS: Justice Antonin Scalia passed away in his sleep last night. With his SCOTUS seat now available, President Obama will be tasked with appointing a new Supreme Court Justice. With 361 days left in office, Obama will likely face opposition to any appointment suggestion he makes, but the longest a new appointment has taken was 125 days. This could mean major changes in the dynamics of the Court. Justice Antonin Scalia Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was the first Italian-American on the High Court. (CNN)U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia has died at the age of 79, a government source and family friend told CNN on Saturday. Scalia died in his sleep during a visit to Texas. The first Italian-American to sit on the nation's highest court, Scalia was a conservative in thought, but not in personality. The jaunty jurist was able to light up, or ignite, a room with his often brash demeanor and wicked sense of humor, grounded always in...