On Monday, Oklahoma City Archbishop Paul Coakley urged the state legislature to abolish the death penalty in the wake of a federal court ruling upholding the state’s death sentence procedure.
However, the court rules on Oklahoma practice, Coakley stated in a statement that he still believes that the death sentence merely serves to further coarsen society and fuel a cycle of violence.
WRAL.com reported that U.S. District Judge Stephen Friot in Oklahoma City on June 6 rejected the argument of 28 Oklahoma death row inmates that the sedative midazolam, one of the drugs the state uses in its lethal injection protocol, is an inadequate painkiller that makes the dying process severely and unconstitutionally painful.
Following a recent court judgment, the state of Oklahoma will be able to carry out the executions of all 28 convicts over the following two years.
According to Coakley, individuals who have lost a loved one will never be able to find peace or closure by taking another life.
However, “justice is not sufficient,” he continued. In addition to bringing healing, mercy enhances justice. The death penalty must be abolished in Oklahoma.
Inmates’ lawyers, according to WRAL.com, are planning to file an appeal with the 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Denver, where the judgment was made.
As a vocal opponent of capital punishment, Coakley is well-known. For his “tremendous courage” in giving mercy to murderer Julius Jones, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt received accolades from President Trump in November.
Jones was condemned to death for the 1999 murder of Paul Howell by a court roughly 20 years ago. Jones, on the other hand, continues to claim his innocence.
Throughout the ages, the Catholic Church had accepted the death sentence as an appropriate punishment for some offenses. Popes St. John Paul II and Benedict XVI, among others, have urged for the abolition of the death sentence in modern times.
“The death penalty is unconstitutional because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person,” Pope Francis stated in his 2018 revision of the Catholic Church’s Catechism. “[The Church] strives with determination for its elimination worldwide.”