A new book by Dale Recinella, The Biblical Truth About America’s Death Penalty, ana­lyzes cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment through an exam­i­na­tion of reli­gious texts and teach­ings. Using sources such as the Torah, the Talmud, and the Bible, Recinella out­lines what bib­li­cal texts say regard­ing who is deserv­ing of the death penal­ty and who is grant­ed the author­i­ty to impose such a sen­tence. While explor­ing issues such as inno­cence, race, men­tal capac­i­ty, and pros­e­cu­to­r­i­al mis­con­duct, Recinella weaves bib­li­cal texts with cur­rent case exam­ples to con­clude that: ​“People of bib­li­cal faith must abol­ish the American death penal­ty, and we must do so in our time. Moratorium is a way of stop­ping the prac­tice while oth­ers of bib­li­cal faith become edu­cat­ed to the bib­li­cal truth, a truth that demands noth­ing less than abo­li­tion.” Recinella is an attor­ney who serves as a spir­i­tu­al coun­selor and Catholic lay chap­lain for Florida’s prison sys­tem, min­is­ter­ing to death row inmates and pris­on­ers in long-term soli­tary con­fine­ment. (Northeastern University Press, 2004). See Resources.

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