Pax Christi USA Ambassador of Peace
It was exciting to be in Los Angeles over the weekend to join friends in Pax Christi L.A. for their annual assembly day, this year with the theme, “Blessed are the Peacemakers.” It was also exciting to feel the momentum building for Nov. 6, when Californians have to opportunity to vote Yes on Proposition 34 and end the death penalty.
California is on the verge of a historic moment, and I hope and pray every Californian will join the campaign to abolish the death penalty once and for all.
All summer long, churches throughout the state have been mobilizing to get out the vote and get rid of the death penalty. This week, Sr. Helen Prejean, author of Dead Man Walking, arrives for an eight-day statewide speaking tour. She told me how excited she is, too, because the churches are at the front of the movement, and there’s a palpable sense of hope in the air. Friends at Death Penalty Focus of California are working overtime to end the death penalty.
Proposition 34 will replace California’s death penalty with life in prison without the possibility of parole. It will require inmates to work and pay restitution to the victims’ compensation fund and will allocate $100 million in the next three years to solve more murders and rapes in California and protect our families….