3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time ( A-cycle )
January 23, 2005

Michael Ross is scheduled to die Wednesday at 2:01 am. Three chemicals will be injected into his bloodstream. They will ultimately stop his heart.  It is hard to feel sorry for Michael Ross. In 1984, he confessed to strangling six teenage girls and two young women. Some of the details of the murders are especially ugly. I will not repeat them here.

Furthermore, Michael Ross has deliberately chosen not to make further appeals of his death sentence. He says he wants to bring closure to himself and to the families of his victims. His execution will be the first in Connecticut in 45 years. No execution has taken place in the northeastern United States since 1963.

As a Catholic priest, I pray that somehow there will be a stay of execution, that Michael Ross will be shown mercy, mercy he never showed to his victims. The Catechism of the Catholic Church emphatically states that human life is sacred. This is the reason why we condemn murder, abortion, and unjust war. This is why, except in the most extraordinary circumstances, we condemn capital punishment.

The only justification for killing another, the Catechism states, is self-defense “if this is the only possible way of defending human lives against the unjust aggressor.” It quotes Pope John Paul II to the effect that “the cases in which the execution of the offender is an absolute necessity are “very rare, if nonexistent.” This is not one of those “very rare” cases. We are safe from Michael Ross who is securely imprisoned, as he should be, for the rest of his life.

Much of the world has abandoned capital punishment as a relic of a darker age. There is no death sentence, for example, in Western Europe. This has actually hindered our efforts against terrorism, as some European countries have been reluctant to extradite suspects to the United States where they might be put to death. Among the great industrial nations of the world, we are joined in executing criminals by Russia and China, hardly beacons of human rights.

That the death penalty is a deterrent to crime is most questionable. Capital crimes such as murder typically are committed out of passion, mental illness, or because the perpetrator thinks he can get away with it. To me, one of the strongest arguments against the deterrent effect of capital punishment comes close to home. Our sister state of Rhode Island did away with the death penalty in 1845. Between l845 and 1960, its murder rate should have been much higher than Connecticut’s---if executions discouraged murders more than life sentences. That was not the case.

Again, the comforting effect of poisoning Ross is dubious. It will not bring those poor women back. As far as closure for the families is concerned I think revenge is overrated. This, I think, is one of the reasons why Scripture tells us, “Vengeance is mine, says the Lord.”

The death sentence has not been administered impartially. Minorities, especially when they kill white persons, are more likely to die. Executions more often than not are the fate of the poor. The well-heeled seldom walk the last mile because they can afford quality legal representation. Whether one lives or dies should not depend on the color of one’s skin or the size of one’s bank account. One last injustice involved with the death penalty: innocent persons have been executed. There is no way to correct mistakes like that.

Michael Ross is an unlikely candidate for sympathy. If you’re like me, reading the details of his cruelty brings the anger in me to a boil. Death by lethal injection is probably, the kindest thing I can think of to do to him. But there is a difference between Michael Ross and us. We can contain our murderous impulses; I don’t believe Michael Ross can. He, to put it bluntly, is a madman. He is a sick man. Putting the sick to death is not the mark of an enlightened society. I think we are better than this.

Early Wednesday morning, if nothing changes, Michael Ross will die, perhaps starting a flood of executions that will gradually harden our hearts to state-sponsored homicide. May the legislature do away with the death penalty, so we are never faced with this situation again. As it stands, Michael Ross has once more imposed his will, this time on the state of Connecticut. May God have mercy on him; may God have mercy on us.