VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis has changed Catholic Church teaching about the death penalty, saying in a new policy published Thursday that it is always “inadmissible” because it “attacks” the inherent dignity of all humans. The Vatican said Francis had approved a change to the Catechism of the Catholic Church — the compilation of […]
capital punishment
Posted inOp-Eds
Arkansas executing the guilty and innocent
Nearly three dozen men sit on death row in Arkansas, where capital punishment has been suspended since 2005. Unless clemency is granted, seven of them, an eighth man was granted a temporary reprieve, will be given lethal injections all within a 10-day period, between April 17 and 27. Why so many? Why the rush? The […]
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Posted inLetters
Death penalty for certain crimes
Way back, Gov. Paul LePage was talking about the drug problem that exists in Maine and suggested bringing back the guillotine to punish convicted drug dealers. Although I believe that would be a deterrent, it will not happen. Now, state officials are getting nowhere on the problem with heroin and other opioids, and that problem […]
Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
Movement away from capital punishment gathering force
Most of the civilized world has come to regard killing someone held in captivity as barbaric. The death penalty has been abolished in the European Union and 19 U.S. states. Governors in four states that do permit capital punishment — Colorado, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Washington — have imposed a moratorium on executions. The rest of […]
Posted inLetters
In favor of capital punishment
This is in response to the Feb. 25 article concerning the life imprisonment sentence for Zackery Mailloux for the brutal and senseless murder of Brooke Locke. In cases like that, I don’t understand how people can argue against capital punishment. I know the death sentence doesn’t bring back the victim, may not deter someone from […]
Posted inLetters
A taste of their own medicine
No doubt, drug problems in Maine are getting worse. How many young people are persuaded by their friends to use drugs? Here is a tip: They are not friends. Run. How many young people die from an overdose sold to them by a pusher? Drug pushers who are convicted go to jail for a period […]
Posted inNation / World, sj-web
U.S. Supreme Court upholds use of lethal injections
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court upheld the use of a controversial drug in lethal injection executions Monday, as two dissenting justices said for the first time that they think it’s “highly likely” that the death penalty itself is unconstitutional. The justices voted 5-4 in a case from Oklahoma that the sedative midazolam can be used […]
Posted inLetters
R. Melendy: Opposed to the death penalty
Have I heard it correctly, that the Maine Legislature will be considering a bill to re-instate the death penalty for certain crimes? Maine has had a positive reputation because the judicial system does not kill people. I cannot believe that my old friend, Sen. Bill Diamond, is advocating the death penalty. We all know that […]
Posted inLetters
R. Bechard: Maine needs the death penalty
I understand that state Sen. Bill Diamond, D-Windham, is proposing the death penalty for a person convicted of killing a child featured in a snuff film. The death penalty should be for all who are convicted of murder in Maine. Maine’s superior courts should stop plea deals in murder trials. For years, people with criminal […]