WHEREAS, the Life, Peace and Justice Commission of the Roman Catholic Diocese
of Reno stands opposed to the use of the death penalty in any form as a
direct affront to the sanctity and dignity of human life.  And

WHEREAS  Catholic social teaching calls us to oppose the death penalty, to wit:

- Pope John Paul II's encyclical, Evangelium Vitae, and the Catechism of the
Roman Catholic Church call for an alternative to the death penalty whenever it
is otherwise possible to defend and protect society, which, the documents
conclude: "as a result of steady improvements in the organization of the penal
system, such cases [meriting execution] are very rare, if not practically
nonexistent."

- The U.S. Catholic Conference concluded in 1979 that "the Church's
commitment to the value and dignity of human life leads us to oppose the
use of the death penalty" and that it "has been discriminatory toward the
poor, the indigent, and racial minorities." (Political Responsibility:
Choices for the 1980's - USCC statement.)

- On Good Friday, April 2, 1999, the Administrative Board of the United
States Catholic Conference of American Bishops reaffirmed this position
stating:  "We see the death penalty as perpetuating a cycle of violence
and promoting a sense of vengeance in our culture."

- Most Reverend Phillip F. Straling, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese
of Reno, stands equally opposed to the death penalty.

- The national leadership conferences of women and men religious have called
on its membership to work at all possible levels to abolish the inhuman and
futile form of punishment that is the death penalty.  And

WHEREAS there is ample evidence that the death penalty is applied in a racist
manner, to wit:

- In 1987, in McCleskey v. Kemp, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to act on
data demonstrating the continuing reality of racial bias.

- In 1990, the U.S. General Accounting Office reported "a pattern of evidence
indicating racial disparities in charging, sentencing and imposition of the
death penalty."

- Nationwide, 82% of those put to death had been convicted of murdering a
white person even though people of color are the victims in more than half of
all homicides.

- The U.S. Congress has failed repeatedly to pass the Racial Justice Act,
which would allow prisoners to challenge their death sentences using
standards normal in civil racial discrimination cases.  And

WHEREAS their is ample evidence to demonstrate that the death penalty is
applied in a sexist manner in that during the last 20 years less than two
percent of those on death row were women, although women commit about 18
percent of all criminal homicides. (American Civil Liberties Union)  And

WHEREAS there is ample evidence that the death penalty is applied in a manner
directly discriminatory toward the poor, to wit:

- About 90% of those persons facing capital charges cannot afford their own
attorney. (See R. Tabak & M. Lane, The Execution of Injustice: A Cost and
Lack-of-Benefit analysis of the Death Penalty, 23 Loyola of L.A. L.Rev. 59,70
(1989).)

- No state has met standards developed by the American Bar Association (ABA)
for appointment, performance and compensation of counsel for indigent
prisoners.  And

WHEREAS prisoner appeals have been severely curtailed, increasing the risk of
imprisonment and execution of innocent people, to wit:

- In a series of rulings since 1991, the Supreme Court has drastically
restricted the rights of death row prisoners to appeal their convictions
and death sentences in federal courts, even in cases where prisoners present
compelling evidence of innocence.

- In 1996, new legislation drastically limited federal court review of death
penalty appeals, and gutted public funding of legal aid services for death row
prisoners.

- Already this year six people have been freed from death row who came
dangerously close to being executed although innocent.

- Since 1973 fifty-nine death row inmates have been released after evidence
of their innocence emerged.  Some of these prisoners came within days of
execution.  In many, the trial lawyer failed to do the basic investigation
necessary to exonerate the client.  (See Richard C. Dieter, "Twenty Years
of Capital Punishment: A Re-evaluation by Death Penalty Information Center,
June 1996")

- In the past 20 years, 350 capital convictions later revealed that the
convicted person had not committed the crime.  Of these, 25 people were
executed.  (American Civil Liberties Union and National Coalition to Abolish
the Death Penalty)  And

WHEREAS the death penalty is unfairly applied to the mentally ill, to wit:

- Persons with mental retardation who have committed a crime have a diminished
capacity to understand right from wrong and the legal consequences of their
actions.  And even those who are completely innocent are more prone to confess
to what they have not done in order to please their interrogators.  (See
Dieter, supra, p.7)

- Mental Retardation also interferes with the defendant's ability to assist
his or her attorney in preparing a defense and the defendant on the witness
stand or at the bench may appear to lack the emotions of remorse or empathy
which a jury weighs in considering a death sentence.  (See, Dieter, supra
and R. Perske, Unequal Justice?  15-23 (1991).) And

- Twenty-eight defendants with mental retardation have been executed in the
United States since 1976, including at least one in Nevada, representing about 8
percent of all executions.  And

WHEREAS there is ample evidence that the death penalty is applied to persons
under the age of 18, in violation of human rights treaties, to wit:

- 143 children have been sentenced to death since 1973.

- Every major international human rights treaty explicitly prohibits
executing people for crimes committed before age 18.  (See Pax Christi USA
Backgrounder on Capital Punishment, 1997.)  And

WHEREAS the American Bar Association has concluded that administration of the
death penalty is "a haphazard maze of unfair practices with no internal
consistency" and has called for a moratorium on executions.  And

WHEREAS the death penalty never has been proven as a deterrent to crime.  And

WHEREAS the United Nations has long since called upon member states to move
toward abolition of the death penalty.  (International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights, Article 6, adopted Dec. 16, 1966, entered into force March 23,
1976).  And

WHEREAS the State of Nebraska Legislature passed a moratorium on the death
penalty in its state and six other states have introduced moratorium bills
this year.

NOW THEREFORE,  BE IT RESOLVED THAT this commission of the Diocese of
Reno, Nevada calls on the Governor and State of Nevada Representatives, and
President Clinton and U.S. Representatives for the State of Nevada in Congress, to:
    1)  Enact legislation imposing a permanent moratorium on executions.
    2)  If a permanent moratorium cannot be enacted, to immediately enact
        legislation imposing a moratorium until such time as the State of
                Nevada and the United States of America implement policies and
                procedures which:
        a) ensure that death penalty cases are administered fairly and
                   impartially, in accordance with basic due process;
        b) minimize the risk that innocent persons may be executed;
        c) prevent the execution of mentally disabled persons; and
        d) prevent the execution of persons who are under the age of 18 at the
            time of their offenses.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this resolution, consisting of four (4)
pages inclusive of this page, shall be forwarded to Governor Kenny Guinn,
Nevada state representatives, President Clinton, and Nevada representatives
in the United States Congress.

Ratified this 21st day of October, 1999.

Life, Peace and Justice Commission of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Reno,
Nevada