ICC works to support legislation outlawing death penalty as state executions set to resume

Archbishop Charles C. Thompson offers a prayer on the steps of the Indiana Statehouse in Indianapolis on Nov. 17 during a rally calling on Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb to halt the execution of Joseph Corcoran, scheduled for Dec. 18, the first state execution in 15 years. (Photo by Sean Galllagher)

By Natalie Hoefer

With Indiana’s first state execution in 15 years scheduled for Dec. 18, the Indiana Catholic Conference (ICC) is already working to promote legislation for the 2025 General Assembly—set to begin on Jan. 8—that would eradicate the death penalty in Indiana.

Indiana Rep. Bob Morris (District 84) “will file a full death penalty repeal bill that will have the option of life without parole,” says Alexander Mingus, executive director of the ICC, which serves as the public policy voice for the Church in Indiana. Morris, a Catholic, designed the bill to adhere to Church teaching, which opposes the death penalty. (See an update on the legislation here)

“Our effort now is to determine the appetite in the House for looking at a bill like this,” says Mingus.

He notes that there have been only two bills related to the death penalty proposed in the last decade—one in 2017 to create a mental illness exception, and one in 2021 to reserve the sentence to cases of multiple murders or the death of a police officer.

“Neither bill went anywhere,” says Mingus. “So, we don’t have a full picture of where current legislators stand on the death penalty because there’s no voting record. And there’s not much on record for how someone feels on the death penalty.”

To identify where state legislators side on this issue, he says the ICC is “working with partner organizations,” including the Indiana Public Defense Council and the Indiana Abolition Coalition, as well as national groups like Catholic Mobilizing Network and Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty.

“It’s still early in the process,” says Mingus. “But this is going to be a topic we’ll be hitting pretty hard this year for a number of reasons.”

‘The death penalty is not the solution’

One of those reasons is the Church’s opposition to capital punishment.

Prior to 2018, the Church allowed for the death penalty in extreme circumstances for the protection of others, as outlined in #2267 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

In 2018, Pope Francis issued a change to #2267—and to the Church’s stance on capital punishment.

All death penalty was declared inadmissible because “the dignity of the person is not lost even after the commission of very serious crimes” and “… more effective systems of detention have been developed, which ensure the due protection of citizens but, at the same time, do not definitively deprive the guilty of the possibility of redemption.”

The change was not based on the current pontiff’s judgment alone.

“Popes John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Francis have argued against the use of capital punishment, pointing out the security of modern prison systems as well as the impact of capital punishment on society and humanity,” says Archbishop Charles C. Thompson.

“Pope Francis has used words like ‘inadmissible,’ ‘contrary to the Gospel,’ ‘an attack on the dignity of the human person,’ ‘fostering vengeance rather than justice’ and ‘a poison for society’ in describing the death penalty.

“While our first concern is for victims and their families, as well as protection for all those in society, the death penalty is not the solution. It cannot bring back loved ones, heal wounds of loss or bring justice to the victims.”

Archbishop Thompson also notes the negative impact of capital punishment on prison personnel, witnesses and families.

“Violence often begets more violence, whether criminal or regulated,” he says. “We are better than this.”

Another reason both the archbishop and Mingus cite for seeking an end to capital punishment is the possibility of executing an innocent person.

According to Death Penalty Information Center’s online Innocence Database, 200 exonerations of those on death row have occurred in the United States since 1973.

“That’s a scary thing to think that you could find innocent people on death row who could be executed,” says Mingus.

Added urgency as state executions set to resume

The reasons for seeking an end to the death penalty cited above are timeless.

A more pressing issue for the ICC to promote a bill eradicating capital punishment in Indiana (while allowing life without parole) is the June 26 announcement by Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb and Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita of the resumption of the death penalty in Indiana. (Read the ICC’s response on behalf of the five Indiana bishops at www.indianacc.org/bishopsstatements.)

While several federal executions took place at the United States Penitentiary in Terre Haute in 2020, the last state-ordered execution occurred in 2009.

In a Dec. 11, 2019, Indianapolis Star article, the Indiana Department of Correction (DOC) stated the reason for the hiatus was “the result of business decisions by pharmaceutical suppliers who now decline purchase requests” from the agency.

The supply issue recently changed. The June 26 statement noted the DOC’s acquisition of the drug pentobarbital for carrying out executions.

“Accordingly, I am fulfilling my duties as governor to follow the law and move forward appropriately in this matter,” Gov. Holcomb said in the statement, posted on events.in.gov.

On Sept. 24, the Indiana Supreme Court set a date for the first of the executions. Joseph Corcoran—a Fort Wayne, Ind., man convicted in 1997 of murdering four people, including his brother—is set to be executed on Dec. 18 at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City.

Corcoran’s attorneys filed a motion with the Indiana Supreme Court on Nov. 15 for a stay of execution due to Corcoran’s struggle with mental illness, according to the case summary at public.courts.in.gov.

“For virtually his entire life, Mr. Corcoran has been plagued by symptoms of psychosis and cognitive dysfunction,” the motion states. “These symptoms continue to this day, and numerous mental health experts have diagnosed him with paranoid schizophrenia or precursors to the schizophrenic diagnosis.”

The filing also notes “colorable evidence” that, due to his schizophrenia, both the conviction of and carrying through with Corcoran’s execution violate the federal and state constitutions’ prohibition of “cruel and unusual punishment.”

State attorneys on the case were given a deadline of Nov. 26 to reply to the motion. Corcoran’s attorneys had until Dec. 3 to respond to the state’s reply. On Dec. 5, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled against the motion, leaving Corcoran's execution in place for Dec. 18.

‘We’re praying for hearts to be moved’

Regardless of the outcome, the state’s resumption of executions adds urgency to the ICC’s efforts to promote legislation in the upcoming General Assembly that would abolish the death penalty in Indiana.

Governor-elect and current U.S. senator Mike Braun has not issued comments regarding the resumption of state executions. Nor do his gubernatorial campaign or senate websites state his view on capital punishment.

However, according to Braun’s comments in an April 19 Indiana Capital Chronicle article, he does support the death penalty “for those guilty of the most heinous of crimes.”

Mingus says those involved in efforts to repeal Indiana’s death penalty are praying.

“We’re praying for hearts to be moved—of our current governor, our new governor and our legislators; for them to turn it over in their mind if this is something they’re OK with the state doing; and for them to consider the fundamental question: Can the death penalty be justly administered in our current context?

“We say no.”
 

(To ask Gov. Holcomb to stop the execution of Joseph Corcoran, go to cutt.ly/StopCorcoranExecution.) †