Missouri Blocks Spiritual Advisor Request for Prison Pastor’s Execution
With the execution of Lance Shockley approaching, this issue of A Public Witness unpacks the debate over his religious freedom rights for his final moments.
The Impending Execution of a Prison Pastor
This issue of A Public Witness looks at Lance Shockley’s extensive history of Christian leadership while in prison, as well as the role restorative justice should play in our criminal legal system.
Pope Leo XIV Enters US Political Fray, Challenging ‘Inhuman Treatment of Immigrants’
The first American pope weighed in on a controversy roiling the Chicago diocese, telling journalists the Catholic Church’s political positions include more than opposing abortion.
‘Torturous and Inhumane’: Arkansas Religious Leaders Denounce Gas Suffocation Executions
On Thursday, a delegation of religious leaders from Arkansas gathered at the state capitol in Little Rock to implore Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders not to resume state-sanctioned executions — specifically those using the method of gas asphyxiation.
Literally Misreading the Bible
This issue of A Public Witness looks at how one Calvinist voice with connections to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is publicly doing violence to Scripture to justify some disturbingly unChristlike behavior.
‘We’re More Than the Worst Thing We’ve Done,’ Says Spiritual Adviser to Man Executed by Firing Squad
For United Methodist minister Hillary Taylor, there’s a reward in introducing outsiders to someone who is kind and compassionate — ‘telling a story that maybe hasn’t been told before.’
Biden Commutes Sentences of 37 on Federal Death Row, Three Remain
'I am more convinced than ever that we must stop the use of the death penalty at the federal level,' Biden said in his statement.
‘Perverted Justice’
Clergy blast Missouri Gov. Mike Parson for freeing the police officer who was convicted of killing 26-year-old Cameron Lamb.
Death Row Inmate Joseph Corcoran Executed for Quadruple Murder
Rev. David Leitzel, Corcoran’s Wesleyan minister, was allowed within the execution chamber as Corcoran was killed.
To Preserve Life, Promote Equity, and Facilitate Redemption, President Biden Should Commute All Federal Death Sentences
This action would ensure that no federal prisoner faces execution despite being intellectually disabled, mentally incompetent, or convicted in proceedings riddled with racial bias.