Bishop Koenig has asked lawmakers in Delaware to get behind legislation that would bar capital punishment in the state.
It’s been 12 years since the state carried out an execution in Delaware.
House Bill 70 would formally end the death penalty in Delaware. House Bill 301 seeks to amend the Delaware constitution to prohibit the institution of the death penalty in the state.
HB 70 made it through House Judiciary Committee last week and needs a majority vote in both the state house and senate before being sent for the signature of Gov. John Carney. HB 301 was passed last week by the House Administration Committee and is part of the amendment process, which requires a two-thirds vote in two consecutive General Assemblies.
“This is rooted in the church’s fundamental belief in the sacred dignity of all human life from conception to natural death and the teaching that all people are made in the image and likeness of God,” Bishop Koenig wrote in a letter to legislators dated March 25.
Bishop Koenig noted that in 2017, when the question of whether to remedy a constitutional flaw which brought about a de facto moratorium on the death penalty in Delaware was before the state House, his predecessor, Bishop W. Francis Malooly said: “The true question at the heart of this issue is whether or not the death penalty is a just and necessary method of punishment … Prison provides an effective alternative to the death penalty by removing the serious offender from society and allowing an opportunity for repentance, reformation, and reconciliation.”
Bishop Koenig said he agrees.
“During this Holy Week leading up to the Feast of Easter, I join with my brother bishop, and many others who advocate for life in Delaware, in urging you to support HB 70 and HB 301,” Bishop Koenig wrote.
“The Catechism states that ‘[T]he death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person,’” Bishop Koenig wrote. “Saint Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis have all called for the abolishment of capital punishment globally. The U.S. bishops have repeatedly advocated for an end to the death penalty in our country.”
The last execution in Delaware was April 20, 2012, when Shannon Johnson, 28, was put to death by lethal injection, according to the website delaware.gov. Johnson had been convicted of first-degree murder in the 2006 killing of Cameron Hamlin.
