President Obama met with the press before his visit with Pope Benedict on July 10. He talked about how he admired Cardinal Bernardine’s “seamless garment” approach to pro-life, that the cardinal included in its scope a wide range of issues: “He was concerned about poverty, he was concerned with how children were treated, he was concerned about the death penalty…”
Now here’s interesting fodder for a conversation with President Obama. For starters: “Aren’t you, too, very, very concerned about the fact that already 135 innocent people have been released from death row? How many will it take before we recognize the failed system? Not to mention the shocking, appalling racist application of the death penalty presently carried out in the Deep South states.”
Do you have any ideas about how we might get a conversation going with President Obama and his wife, Michelle, about this issue? Would you like to help us mount a young people’s letter writing campaign to the White House to end the death penalty in the U.S.?
Think boldly. Organize strategically. Act quickly. Please respond and let me know your thinking!
- Sister Helen
Dear Sister,
Let me just say that I am amazed and pleased that you are still moving headstrong on this issue after so much time. Praise God that so many people have ben released from death row. Thank you for what you do for people!
I think your idea to converse with the Obamas is a very well timed. Perhaps youth groups and university Catholic centers would be the place to create a push for youth involvement. There could be a letter writing campaign in the early fall as school is back in session.
Then, you and a few representatives could present the letters to the Obamas. This might be a very good way to continue discussing the matter.
Take care,
Steve
Sister Helen,
I think it would be a good idea to get Murder Victims Families for Reconciliation involved, maybe some exonorees, people from the medical community who oppose capital punishment, and maybe capital defense attorneys who’ve witnessed executions.
As much I like President Obama, I don’t think his attention is focused on the death penalty, and I don’t think he’ll act on it. Of course, he wants to appear to be “tough on crime.” But if the conversation is focused on 1) the cost and 2) innocence, you might get somewhere.
Best of luck to you. I think of you often, especially as I prepare to begin my law school internship doing post-conviction capital defense. You’ve inspired so many young people like myself. Keep it up!
Bridgid
Sister Helen,
I think this is an excellent initiative.
I’m from Australia & I wonder if it would also be a good idea to include those of us from overseas in a letter writing campaign – including the angle, perhaps, that the death penalty is declining around the world and how the US stands out as an anomaly in the free world?
Something to think about
In peace
Kathy
Sister Helen,
President Obama is all about saving money. He is on TV right now talking about his health care reform. Where do prisoners fit into his health care program? I think that this would be a very good place to start the conversation with him. Get him talking about health care reform and prisoners and then move to the cost of the death penalty and eventually work into the coversation Cardinal Bernadin’s “seamless garment” argument. Healthcare is absolutely a human dignity issue as is the death penalty. Healthcare is the hot topic right now so I think that you could use it to get the death penalty discussion out in the open.
I doubt you will get him to move on abolishing the death penalty altogether, and honestly, I don’t think it would be realistic for him to try. He’s not a dictator, there are 535 souls in Congress too.
But in Illinois, he did spend political capital on incremental steps to reduce wrongful convictions. For instance, he was widely praised for getting police, prosecutors, and “tough-on-crime” pols to agree to have interrogations videotaped. So I think we could work on him not to forget how diseased our criminal justice system is, and the lives that are destroyed daily in it.
We can’t count on him to do what we wish he would (what we wish he COULD) do, but we should press him to do what’s possible, to bring capital punishment to the table and push as far as he can toward its abolition.
I personally would be THRILLED if he would let Leonard Peltier out of prison (clemency), although he’s not on death row…. he’s up for a complete parole hearing for the first time in something like 10 years. INNOCENT, almost certainly, and very definitely NOT proven guilty past a reasonable doubt.
Good luck. If Obamba cares nothing about the life of the unborn, why would he care about those on death row?
Dear Sister Helen,
Last night as I was watching President Obama’s press conference on health care, I was pleased that Henry Louis Gates’ case was given the coverage it deserves. Gates one of the most influential historians and Harvard professor who happens to be a African-American is not exempt from racial injustice even in his own home. I began to think how this situation which President Obama is familiar with and is outraged, could be used to bring up the subject of the death penalty and our broken justice system which clearly targets person’s of color, those with mental illness/disabled and the poor. The fact that President Obama now holds the highest office in the land has had little effect. I would like to ask President Obama why he supports the death penalty, clearly discriminatory and ineffective. In fact I would go as far as saying to him; it is the modern day equivalent of lynching, particularly in southern states. The death penalty must end and making people aware of all the problems associated and why it does not belong in a civilized society. I think you are correct that younger Americans are the ones who must act because unfortunately the older generation has proven they won’t.
Thank you Sister Helen for all your work – you are an inspiration to me.
Respectfully,
Wayne Dickerson
Do you know if the red envelope campaign mounted by the Pro Life campaign was very successful? I am curious if it had a positive affect. In any case, we should look for alternatives to opening the dialog.
Sr. Helen–
My comment is more about the means than the content, but I think important to consider if youth are to be involved. I was just reading about the advertising award (the prestigious Titanium Grand Prix!) which the Obama campaign won for innovaton. From the trend site WGSN: “Using a combination of social networking sites, SMS updates, viral online videos and blogging–along with classic TV and print work–Obama and his team built the very model of modern marketing exercise”. What we do as activists is not so unrelated to advertising–we seek to persuade. Are youth going to be as inclined to write a letter as to, say, Twitter, email, SMS? To encourage the same communication means as Obama uses may be useful. Wouldn’t it be great to have an impactful viral video going around! (I am hardly a “youth” myself, so unfortunately don’t know how to use much of this technology myself!)
Thanks, Sr. Helen, for your continuing work on this issue.
Thanks for the huge response here and on my Facebook page to the idea of young people writing to Pres. Obama about the death penalty. I’m presently consulting about how to go about organizing the campaign.
Can you feel it? Can you feel the wave of abolition building? Can you sense it in the air?
Keep the ideas coming. Before the sun sets on your enthusiasm, write a letter to your state legislators about abolishing the death penalty in your state. And, if you haven’t already done so, plug into the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty at http://www.ncadp.org.
Dear Sister Prejean,
Thank you for letting me know about Romell Broom. Earlier today, I contact ed the office of the governor of Ohio to ask for a stay of execution. I do not know if it will do any good, but it is still something.
Any life that can be saved will be a major victory, yet it seems that few will be saved, even though they may be innocent. You must never give up and perhaps we can all show those Supreme Court justices that is it wrong to kill innocent people!