On March 19, Cardinal Bernard Law and three other Catholic...

On March 19, Cardinal Bernard Law and three other Catholic bishops in Massachusetts issued a joint statement condemning the death penalty. Law said that while murder must be punished, it will not be deterred by the violence of capital punishment. Law maintained that the death penalty is "simply wrong." He said: "It solves no problems. It encourages a mentality of vengeance and revenge." The last execution in Massachusetts was in 1947.