News Release: Michigan Catholic Conference to Continue Fight Against Death Penalty

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 16, 2004

LANSING—The Michigan Catholic Conference, a leading opponent to the death penalty in this state, announced today that it will continue to fight legislation seeking to reinstate the death penalty in Michigan. Earlier today the House Regulatory Reform Committee voted House Joint Resolution W out of committee and sent the bill to the full House of Representatives.

“The Michigan Catholic Conference will continue to advocate against any legislation that seeks to institute a culture of death in our state,” said Michigan Catholic Conference Vice-President for Public Policy Paul A. Long. “We congratulate the committee members who had the courage to vote against a measure that creates a man-made system prone to man-made errors. The Michigan Catholic Conference will continue to speak to legislators until the resolution is brought before the full House about why Michigan should not be in the business of state-sanctioned killing.”

“We do not challenge society's right to punish the serious and violent offender,” Long said. “But, to serve as an effective deterrent to crime, any punishment must be swift, sure and even handed. Capital punishment fails in all these categories. Public policy must be developed with the common good as the central theme under girded in the belief in the sanctity of human life and the inherent dignity of the human person. The restoration of the death penalty is a simplistic solution to complex problems.”

Michigan Catholic Conference is the official public policy voice of the Catholic Church in this state.

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