Former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Newt Gingrich said he is “more open” to the abolition of the death penalty after hearing Pope Francis’ address to Congress. Gingrich, who converted to Catholicism several years ago, said he was “very impressed” with Pope Francis’ comments. In an appearance on HuffPost Live, Gingrich highlighted the work he has done on criminal justice reform, saying, “I very deeply believe we need to profoundly rethink what we’ve done over the past 25 years in criminal justice.” With regards to the death penalty, he raised particular concerns about innocence: “You do want to be careful not to execute somebody who you find later on, as we’ve found, to be innocent.” Openness to the idea of abolition represents a significant change in Gingrich’s stance on the issue, as he was House Speaker when Congress passed the law (known as the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA)) limiting the availability of federal judicial review of death sentences imposed in the state courts and once advocated a mandatory death penalty for drug smugglers.
