I am conflicted on the execution of horrendous murderer Humberto Leal in Texas.
I am not conflicted because I think that executing him was the right thing to do. I don’t. But I am conflicted about almost everything else to do with this case.
I find it absolutely infuriating that the Mexican government tried to intervene in this case almost as frustrating as the US federal government in this case. Humberto Leal was indeed a Mexican national but he lived in the US since he was 2 years old. There are laws on the books designed to protect foreign nationals from being executed without due process and so they are allowed to contact their embassy. The idea is that such foreign nationals might be at a disadvantage and should be afforded adequate representation.
Humberto Leal had adequate representation, and then some. In fact, he had some of the best legal minds in the country with a specialty in capital crimes. No one their right mind could argue that Humberto Leal did not have adequate representation, and that ‘right mind’ caveat naturally excludes the government.
The US government tried to prevent the execution on the grounds…
July 11, 2011 at 1:35 pm
One other angle. Illegal aliens can't have it both ways. They cannot expect the privileges of being an American, including financial benefits, but then avoid the responsibilities, including legal accountability.
July 12, 2011 at 3:15 pm
The execution was wrong. The politics around it don't matter. We as Catholics are pro-life. That includes being against the death penalty… the rest of it doesn't mattter.
July 13, 2011 at 3:08 pm
As Catholics we are not forced to oppose the Death Penalty. You need to do more research on th esubject. Many times a criminal that might have been executed for a murder, but served time instead–was released and added more murders to his crimes. If we could depend on the government to keep them in prison forever fine–but that is not always the case and others have paid for this crack in the system–with their lives. The applied Death Penalty would have prevented that.
July 13, 2011 at 8:57 pm
The Catholic Church had no problem with the death penalty until the last half century. The death penalty was on the books in the Papal States and the popes frequently carried out executions until the dissolution of the papal states in the 1870. Church teaching noted time and time again that the use of the death penalty did not violate the commandment against killing. I think the traditional teaching of the Church was correct in this error and that current teaching is a confused attempt to overturn a stable catholic teaching from the time of Saint Paul forward.
July 14, 2011 at 12:10 am
Correction to my initial comment:
The Catholic Church had no problem with the death penalty until the last half century. The death penalty was on the books in the Papal States and the popes frequently carried out executions until the dissolution of the papal states in the 1870. Church teaching noted time and time again that the use of the death penalty did not violate the commandment against killing. I think the traditional teaching of the Church was correct in this area and that current teaching is a confused, and confusing, attempt to overturn a stable catholic teaching from the time of Saint Paul forward.