In 2007, Bishop John M. Smith came out with a statement praising the state of New Jersey for abolishing the death penalty. Here is a portion of his interview:
"Bishop Smith, who testified before state lawmakers to oppose capital punishment, likewise said the legislators showed “a great deal of courage” to take an unpopular position against the death penalty.
In a phone interview with Catholic News Service, he said the state will not be the first to abolish the death penalty, but the first to stop its use since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976 after a three-year suspension. The practice was reinstated in New Jersey in 1982, but no one has been executed by the state since 1963.
Bishop Smith told CNS he hoped the state’s decision to repeal the death penalty and replace it with life in prison would encourage other states to pass similar measures. He credited the combined efforts of lawmakers and a coalition of lobbyists – including law enforcement officials and representatives of religious groups who testified against capital punishment – with helping the measure secure the necessary votes for passage."
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Bishop John M. Smith of Trenton, N.J., said Dec. 14 he was pleased New Jersey legislators voted to abolish the death penalty, but said he would not have a “triumphalist attitude about it” because capital punishment is such a sensitive issue.
Members of the General Assembly voted Dec. 13 to end the death penalty in their state, four days after the measure was approved by the state Senate. Gov. Jon Corzine signed it into law Dec. 17.
In remarks at the state capitol, Corzine said the decision to abolish the death penalty in the state demonstrated that “New Jersey is truly evolving.”
He said a fundamental argument against the death penalty is for society to “determine if its endorsement of violence begets violence, and if violence undermines our commitment to the sanctity of life.”
The governor also issued an order to commute the sentences of the eight men on the state’s death row to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
He thanked advocacy groups, naming the New Jersey Catholic Conference and the American Civil Liberties Union among others, for their efforts “that put pressure on those of us in public service to stand up and do the right thing.”
- See more at: http://www.catholicreview.org/article/life/family-life/bishop-praises-la...
Bishop John M. Smith of Trenton, N.J., said Dec. 14 he was pleased New Jersey legislators voted to abolish the death penalty, but said he would not have a “triumphalist attitude about it” because capital punishment is such a sensitive issue.
Members of the General Assembly voted Dec. 13 to end the death penalty in their state, four days after the measure was approved by the state Senate. Gov. Jon Corzine signed it into law Dec. 17.
In remarks at the state capitol, Corzine said the decision to abolish the death penalty in the state demonstrated that “New Jersey is truly evolving.”
He said a fundamental argument against the death penalty is for society to “determine if its endorsement of violence begets violence, and if violence undermines our commitment to the sanctity of life.”
The governor also issued an order to commute the sentences of the eight men on the state’s death row to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
He thanked advocacy groups, naming the New Jersey Catholic Conference and the American Civil Liberties Union among others, for their efforts “that put pressure on those of us in public service to stand up and do the right thing.”
- See more at: http://www.catholicreview.org/article/life/family-life/bishop-praises-la...
Bishop John M. Smith of Trenton, N.J., said Dec. 14 he was pleased New Jersey legislators voted to abolish the death penalty, but said he would not have a “triumphalist attitude about it” because capital punishment is such a sensitive issue.
Members of the General Assembly voted Dec. 13 to end the death penalty in their state, four days after the measure was approved by the state Senate. Gov. Jon Corzine signed it into law Dec. 17.
In remarks at the state capitol, Corzine said the decision to abolish the death penalty in the state demonstrated that “New Jersey is truly evolving.”
He said a fundamental argument against the death penalty is for society to “determine if its endorsement of violence begets violence, and if violence undermines our commitment to the sanctity of life.”
The governor also issued an order to commute the sentences of the eight men on the state’s death row to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
He thanked advocacy groups, naming the New Jersey Catholic Conference and the American Civil Liberties Union among others, for their efforts “that put pressure on those of us in public service to stand up and do the right thing.”
- See more at: http://www.catholicreview.org/article/life/family-life/bishop-praises-la...
Bishop John M. Smith of Trenton, N.J., said Dec. 14 he was pleased New Jersey legislators voted to abolish the death penalty, but said he would not have a “triumphalist attitude about it” because capital punishment is such a sensitive issue.
Members of the General Assembly voted Dec. 13 to end the death penalty in their state, four days after the measure was approved by the state Senate. Gov. Jon Corzine signed it into law Dec. 17.
In remarks at the state capitol, Corzine said the decision to abolish the death penalty in the state demonstrated that “New Jersey is truly evolving.”
He said a fundamental argument against the death penalty is for society to “determine if its endorsement of violence begets violence, and if violence undermines our commitment to the sanctity of life.”
The governor also issued an order to commute the sentences of the eight men on the state’s death row to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
He thanked advocacy groups, naming the New Jersey Catholic Conference and the American Civil Liberties Union among others, for their efforts “that put pressure on those of us in public service to stand up and do the right thing.”
- See more at: http://www.catholicreview.org/article/life/family-life/bishop-praises-la...
Bishop John M. Smith of Trenton, N.J., said Dec. 14 he was pleased New Jersey legislators voted to abolish the death penalty, but said he would not have a “triumphalist attitude about it” because capital punishment is such a sensitive issue.
Members of the General Assembly voted Dec. 13 to end the death penalty in their state, four days after the measure was approved by the state Senate. Gov. Jon Corzine signed it into law Dec. 17.
In remarks at the state capitol, Corzine said the decision to abolish the death penalty in the state demonstrated that “New Jersey is truly evolving.”
He said a fundamental argument against the death penalty is for society to “determine if its endorsement of violence begets violence, and if violence undermines our commitment to the sanctity of life.”
The governor also issued an order to commute the sentences of the eight men on the state’s death row to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
He thanked advocacy groups, naming the New Jersey Catholic Conference and the American Civil Liberties Union among others, for their efforts “that put pressure on those of us in public service to stand up and do the right thing.”
- See more at: http://www.catholicreview.org/article/life/family-life/bishop-praises-la...
Bishop John M. Smith of Trenton, N.J., said Dec. 14 he was pleased New Jersey legislators voted to abolish the death penalty, but said he would not have a “triumphalist attitude about it” because capital punishment is such a sensitive issue.
Members of the General Assembly voted Dec. 13 to end the death penalty in their state, four days after the measure was approved by the state Senate. Gov. Jon Corzine signed it into law Dec. 17.
In remarks at the state capitol, Corzine said the decision to abolish the death penalty in the state demonstrated that “New Jersey is truly evolving.”
He said a fundamental argument against the death penalty is for society to “determine if its endorsement of violence begets violence, and if violence undermines our commitment to the sanctity of life.”
The governor also issued an order to commute the sentences of the eight men on the state’s death row to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
He thanked advocacy groups, naming the New Jersey Catholic Conference and the American Civil Liberties Union among others, for their efforts “that put pressure on those of us in public service to stand up and do the right thing.”
- See more at: http://www.catholicreview.org/article/life/family-life/bishop-praises-la...
Bishop John M. Smith of Trenton, N.J., said Dec. 14 he was pleased New Jersey legislators voted to abolish the death penalty, but said he would not have a “triumphalist attitude about it” because capital punishment is such a sensitive issue.
Members of the General Assembly voted Dec. 13 to end the death penalty in their state, four days after the measure was approved by the state Senate. Gov. Jon Corzine signed it into law Dec. 17.
In remarks at the state capitol, Corzine said the decision to abolish the death penalty in the state demonstrated that “New Jersey is truly evolving.”
He said a fundamental argument against the death penalty is for society to “determine if its endorsement of violence begets violence, and if violence undermines our commitment to the sanctity of life.”
The governor also issued an order to commute the sentences of the eight men on the state’s death row to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
He thanked advocacy groups, naming the New Jersey Catholic Conference and the American Civil Liberties Union among others, for their efforts “that put pressure on those of us in public service to stand up and do the right thing.”
- See more at: http://www.catholicreview.org/article/life/family-life/bishop-praises-la...
Bishop John M. Smith of Trenton, N.J., said Dec. 14 he was pleased New Jersey legislators voted to abolish the death penalty, but said he would not have a “triumphalist attitude about it” because capital punishment is such a sensitive issue.
Members of the General Assembly voted Dec. 13 to end the death penalty in their state, four days after the measure was approved by the state Senate. Gov. Jon Corzine signed it into law Dec. 17.
In remarks at the state capitol, Corzine said the decision to abolish the death penalty in the state demonstrated that “New Jersey is truly evolving.”
He said a fundamental argument against the death penalty is for society to “determine if its endorsement of violence begets violence, and if violence undermines our commitment to the sanctity of life.”
- See more at: http://www.catholicreview.org/article/life/family-life/bishop-praises-la...
Bishop John M. Smith of Trenton, N.J., said Dec. 14 he was pleased New Jersey legislators voted to abolish the death penalty, but said he would not have a “triumphalist attitude about it” because capital punishment is such a sensitive issue.
Members of the General Assembly voted Dec. 13 to end the death penalty in their state, four days after the measure was approved by the state Senate. Gov. Jon Corzine signed it into law Dec. 17.
In remarks at the state capitol, Corzine said the decision to abolish the death penalty in the state demonstrated that “New Jersey is truly evolving.”
He said a fundamental argument against the death penalty is for society to “determine if its endorsement of violence begets violence, and if violence undermines our commitment to the sanctity of life.”
- See more at: http://www.catholicreview.org/article/life/family-life/bishop-praises-la...
Bishop John M. Smith of Trenton, N.J., said Dec. 14 he was pleased New Jersey legislators voted to abolish the death penalty, but said he would not have a “triumphalist attitude about it” because capital punishment is such a sensitive issue.
Members of the General Assembly voted Dec. 13 to end the death penalty in their state, four days after the measure was approved by the state Senate. Gov. Jon Corzine signed it into law Dec. 17.
In remarks at the state capitol, Corzine said the decision to abolish the death penalty in the state demonstrated that “New Jersey is truly evolving.”
He said a fundamental argument against the death penalty is for society to “determine if its endorsement of violence begets violence, and if violence undermines our commitment to the sanctity of life.”
- See more at: http://www.catholicreview.org/article/life/family-life/bishop-praises-la...
