[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----WYO., MO.

[Rick Halperin]

April 7


WYOMING:

Yellowbear gets life without parole


A jury today returned a verdict stating that convicted murderer Andrew
Yellowbear will spend the rest of his life in prison without the
possibility of parol.

Yellowbear, who was found guilty of killing his 22-month old daughter, was
facing the death penalty. His sentencing date will be June 1 at 1:30 p.m.
at the Hot Springs County Courthouse.

(source: Casper Star-Tribune)






MISSOURI:

Mo. bishops call for end to executions


Recalling Christs death on Good Friday provides an opportunity to reflect
on Catholic teaching and the death penalty, the Missouri bishops state in
a new pastoral letter opposing executions.

"He was unjustly sentenced to death and executed on a cross, the cruelest
form of capital punishment at the time," the bishops wrote.

More violence, they added "is not a solution to societys problems."

The letter (see full text, page 8.) summarizes Church teaching and
discusses the Catholic Campaign to End the Use of the Death Penalty
started by the U.S. bishops last year. It points to Pope John Paul IIs
urging of people to be "unconditionally pro-life" and affirms a commitment
to support victims and their families.

The letter is signed by Archbishop Raymond Burke and Auxiliary Bishop
Robert Hermann of St. Louis and three former St. Louis priests who now
head dioceses in the state: Bishops Robert Finn of Kansas City-St. Joseph,
John Gaydos of Jefferson City and John Leibrecht of Springfield-Cape
Girardeau. Also signing the letter is retired Bishop Raymond Boland of
Kansas City-St. Joseph.

A statement accompanying the letter notes that recent developments have
given death-penalty opponents hope and provided a teaching moment for the
bishops.

On Feb. 1, the U.S. Supreme Court turned down an appeal from the State of
Missouri to lift a stay of execution for Michael Taylor, who was scheduled
to die that day. As a result, the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals
will hear arguments on the case Tuesday, April 18, to determine whether
the way the state administers lethal injection is unconstitutionally cruel
and inhumane punishment.

The bishops are urging Catholics to pray for a ruling against the death
penalty and to contact their elected officials to advocate for a halt in
executions.

"This pastoral is very timely," said Rita Linhardt of the Missouri
Catholic Conference. "The recent court interventions have focused
attention on the inhumaneness of executions. As Catholics who believe in
the sacredness of life, the use of state-sanctioned killing in our names
diminishes us all."

She noted that studies have shown that the death penalty is not a
deterrent and that it costs more to execute someone than to put them in
prison for life because of the expense of legal appeals.

In addition, she said, 124 people have been let go from death row because
of evidence uncovered in their cases. False convictions remain a real
fear, in part due to reliance on eyewitness identifications, she said. DNA
evidence has been instrumental in freeing some of these inmates, she said,
but it is not available in all cases.

The bishops continue to be concerned with murder victims family members,
she said. "We have to be sensitive to what they are feeling and recognize
the difficult times theyre going through."

Diana Oleskevich, justice coordinator with the Sisters of St. Joseph of
Carondelet, said that during Lent people spend more time in prayer and
look for ways to put their faith into action.

The bishops, she said, have provided a way for them to do that by
addressing their legislators on their opposition to the death penalty.

"They make that connection between prayer and action, faith and action.
People are doing that in other ways, with the Rice Bowl, a life issue that
helps people who are hungry. This also is a life issue," Oleskevich said.

Leodia Gooch, director of the archdiocesan Human Rights Office, said that
as the pastoral letter points out, society does have to protect itself.

"But there are ways to do that without the killing. It doesnt solve
anything."

Sometimes, Gooch said, someone who kills someone else wants to be put to
death. "Sometimes death is a blessing for them. Isnt life in prison more
of a punishment? It can be," Gooch noted.

She said she "cant begin to imagine" how hard it would be to lose a loved
one to murder.

The Human Rights Office is working with parishes of the archdiocese to
obtain support for a moratorium on the death penalty in the state.

Gooch said that even those who do not support an abolition of the death
penalty can support a moratorium that would allow time to impartially
review Missouris death-penalty system by looking at questions of
innocence, justice and arbitrariness.

Bills in the Missouri legislature - HB 1496 sponsored by Rep. Bill Deeken,
R-Jefferson City, and SB 827 sponsored by Sen. Patrick Dougherty, D-St.
Louis - would impose a 3-year moratorium while a study is conducted.

HB 1792, sponsored by Rep. Rodney Hubbard, D-St. Louis, and SB 715,
sponsored by Sen. Joan Bray, D-St. Louis County, would abolish the death
penalty.

A sentence of death offers the illusion of closure and vindication, the
bishops stated, "but no act, even an execution, can bring back a loved one
or heal terrible wounds. The pain and loss of one death cannot be wiped
away by another death."

For more information on the issue and how to contact legislators, see the
bishops Web site mocatholic.org.

(source: St. Louis Review)