Study examines death penalty attitudes
of Catholics at Catholic colleges
A new study indicates that when Catholic students attending Catholic colleges change their views on the issue of the death penalty, they are more likely to become against capital punishment than for it.
The project, carried out by the Georgetown-University-based Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA), generally found that Catholic students at Catholic colleges are less likely than Catholics in public colleges to move away from the church’s teachings on a variety of social and political issues. The report, presented at the Jan. 31 annual meeting of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities, was based on nationwide surveys of 14,527 students conducted in late 2004, when they were freshmen, and in early 2007, when they were juniors.
By the time they reach their junior year, 49% of Catholic students attending Catholic colleges agree “strongly” or “somewhat” that the death penalty should be abolished, according to the study.
Some 31% of the students reported they had switched their position from pro-death-penalty to anti-death-penalty by the time they reached their junior year. Only 21% said they had changed from anti- to pro-death-penalty during the same period. The remaining 48% said their position on the issue did not change.
On pro-life issues in general, the results showed a “mixed pattern,” CARA said. When asked about abortion, a majority (56%) of the students surveyed in their junior year disagreed “strongly” or “somewhat” with the concept that “abortion should be legal.” But more of them had opposed abortion when they were freshmen. Only 16% of the students said they had moved from being pro-choice to anti-abortion in their first three years in college, but 31% said they moved away from the church’s position on the issue during the same period.
The study can be accessed at http://cara.georgetown.edu.
Kansas abolition bill fails by narrow margin
On Feb. 19, a proposal to abolish the death penalty in Kansas received a 20-20 tie vote in the State Senate, one vote short of the number needed to send the bill to the House of Representatives. The legislation was strongly backed by the Kansas Catholic Conference and other anti-death-penalty groups.
The bill had been approved 7-4 by the Senate Judiciary Committee in January, following testimony from Wichita Bishop Michael Jackels. Speaking on behalf of all the state’s Catholic bishops, he said that capital punishment “is too often associated with attitudes and behavior that are opposed to Christian life, such as hatred or vengeance....” Jackels and his fellow bishops also signed an ecumenical letter with bishops from United Methodist, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and Episcopalian jurisdictions urging lawmakers to end the death penalty.
Kansas enacted its death penalty law in 1994, but there have been no executions since it took effect.
Two of three expansion bills thwarted in Virginia
On Feb. 15, the Virginia Senate Courts of Justice Committee rejected two bills designed to broaden the list of circumstances under which death sentences can be sought. Both had been vigorously opposed by the Virginia Catholic Conference.
One would have eliminated the so-called “triggerman” rule, which limits eligibility for death sentences, with few exceptions, to the actual perpetrators of capital murders. Another would have widely lengthened the list of capital murder victim categories. A third expansion bill, however, was approved; it auxiliary police officers and auxiliary sheriffs to the definition of law enforcement officer in the capital murder statute.
Similar bills were passed in last year’s legislative session, but were vetoed by then-Gov. Timothy Kaine (D), a Catholic who opposes capital punishment. The current governor, Robert McDonnell (R), also a Catholic, supports executions.
