By TERESA MALCOLM
NCR Staff
From NATIONAL CATHOLIC REPORTER April 23, 1999
The execution of Karla Faye Tucker by the state of Texas last year brought protests from
an unexpected corner: Christian conservatives, most notably Pat Robertson.
Robertson and others, usually supporters of the death penalty, fought for Tucker’s
clemency on the basis that Tucker, a born-again Christian, had been rehabilitated and
transformed.
Then recently Robertson, who heads the Christian Coalition, spoke out even more forcefully
against capital punishment, to the surprise and delight of some death penalty opponents.
During a program on clemency in New York in February, Robertson said that, while he still
believed capital punishment should be used for unreformed "vicious killers," he
favored allowances for mercy for those who have had "a genuine change of heart."
Some conservatives downplayed the significance of Robertson’s apparent about face.
Death penalty opponents, though, heralded his stance as a remarkable shift, and, given
Robertson’s wide influence, expressed hopes that he would eventually
call for the abolition of capital punishment in all cases.
Robertson called for a vast public relations campaign to undercut public support for the
death penalty. He echoed Catholic teaching as he called for opposition to the
"culture of death" — a term often used by Pope John Paul II— saying,
"We
need to be pro-life across the board."
Robertson’s remarks in New York were not widely reported. He spoke at a program
called "Sparing Cain: Executive Clemency in Capital Cases," presented Feb. 18 by
the Association of the Bar of the City of New York.
The focus of Robertson’s comments was his experience in seeking clemency for Tucker.
"The woman who had been convicted wasn’t there any longer," he said.
"This was a different person. To execute her was an act of barbarity that was totally
unnecessary."
Robertson said that mercy and clemency are also needed in light of the unfairness of the
death penalty — its disproportionate use against people who are poor or members of
minorities.
He decried the "air of unseemly vengeance" outside the prison when Tucker was
executed. "What kind of animal vengeance is it in a society where people take such
delight in this?" he asked.
The dramatic increase in people sentenced to death "does not speak well for our
society," Robertson said.
"Many people who are Catholics, for example, and people of the Protestant faith who
are pro-life are saying this is a seamless thing, that life is precious for
everybody," he said. "We’re not looking now for vengeance. We’re
looking to protect life."
Flaws in the system
Robertson’s has not been the only conservative Christian voice questioning the
morality of the death penalty after Tucker’s execution. Christianity Today ran an
editorial following Tucker’s execution that was "in some ways
revolutionary,"
according to James Megivern, author of The Death Penalty: An Historical and Theological
Survey. The editorial elaborated on flaws in the current system and concluded, "it
seems clear that the death penalty has outlived its usefulness. It has not made the United
States a safer country or a more equitable one."
"These are steps," Megivern told NCR. The first step was the case of one
rehabilitated person; the next was to look at the problems within the system. "Then,
having made these two steps, the next one is [to ask] what is it for? Why do we have it?
You look at it in terms of the philosophy of punishment," said Megivern, who spoke on
the New York panel along with Robertson, Ohio law professor Dan Kobil and human rights
activist Bianca Jagger.
Norman Greene, who heads the committee. on capital punishment for the Association of the
Bar of the City of New York, found that Robertson was "basically a death penalty
opponent. In a way he was talking to fellow believers." Greene served as moderator of
the panel.
Greene said Robertson’s presence on the panel "was really an act of courage and
humanity. Some circles might view it as breaking with his image. After the program, I know
it is consistent with his image."
Kurt Rosenberg, Death Penalty Project assistant for the American Friends Service
Committee, said Robertson’s remarks were "rather stunning in some ways,"
but said that Robertson needed to go still further.
"With a few exceptions, he has ignored the other 3,300 people on death row,"
said Rosenberg, who founded the Friends Committee to Abolish the Death Penalty. "I
don’t want to minimize his turnaround on this issue. He needs to continue to
process it and ultimately come Out against the death penalty in every instance."
How much of a turnaround Robertson has undergone is disputed. A spokesperson at
Robertson’s Christian Broadcasting Network emphasized that Tucker’s case was an
exception. "Mr. Robertson’s views of the death penalty have not changed,
despite what participants gleaned from his remarks in New York," Patty Silverman told
NCR.
Silverman said that a quote found in a 1988 authorized biography was accurate. There
Robertson called capital punishment "a necessary corrective to violent crime"
and "a great deterrent." He added, "It is no deterrent whatsoever if it is
uncertain and continually delayed."
Robertson declined to be interviewed by NCR.
Unwilling to take the risk
Considering Robertson’s remarks in New York, Rosenberg compared him to politicians
who have problems with the death penalty but are not willing to take the risk, of calling
for abolition. "1 wouldn’t be surprised if he were more anti-death
penalty than he’s saying here," Rosenberg said. "All the other comments he
makes are arguments for total abolition. Saying we need to be pro-life across the board
seemingly would mean the death penalty is not an option."
According to Ronald Tabak, who spearheaded the American Bar Association’s resolution
calling for a moratorium on executions, Robertson’s involvement in the Karla Faye
Tucker case and his criticism of Texas’ clemency process has already
had an impact. "It makes it seem legitimate for other social conservatives to rethink
the death penalty," he said. "There’s been this view that unless
you’re a wild-eyed liberal totally out of touch with the rest of the country, you
support the death
penalty."
Tucker was "an individual that breaks through and embodies something," Sr. Helen
Prejean said. Once you have said that a person has been transformed and should not be
executed, then you have to ask if it can happen again, she said. "Is there a
possibility that perhaps every human being is more than’ the worst act of their
lives, and that they can be open to redemption?
"Perhaps this has been part of the fermentation in his soul and in his conscience and
in his faith that is moving the Pat Robertsons of the world more in the direction of
compassion and mercy," Prejean said. "Perhaps it can move him eventually to a
principled position — not just make an exception on the KarlaFaye Tuckers, but in
fact no human being should be subjected to that torture."
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