Catholic anti-death penalty group urges Texas and Oklahoma to stop future executions

WASHINGTON — Two executions – one in Texas and one in Oklahoma – scheduled for late June will be the eighth and ninth executions to take place this year in the United States. These would also be the second executions in each state this year, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

The Catholic Mobilizing Network, a group that seeks to end the death penalty, urged state leaders to end the lethal injection executions of Ramiro Gonzales in Texas on June 26 and Richard Rojem in Oklahoma on June 27.

Gonzales, 41, who has been on death row for nearly 20 years, was denied clemency by the Texas Parole Board on June 24.

A key expert witness is no longer standing by his testimony in the trial of Gonzales, who was 18 at the time of the 2001 sexual assault and murder for which he was convicted.

Gonzales had asked the Pardons and Parole Board to recommend clemency, which would allow Gov. Greg Abbott to commute his sentence to life in prison without parole. In the petition, Gonzales and his attorneys highlighted his traumatic upbringing, but also acknowledged his rehabilitation and his Christian faith as reasons to spare his life.

The board voted 7-0 against recommending a sentence commuted or suspended for 180 days. His lawyers said in a statement that they were “deeply saddened and disappointed” by the decision.

“If Ramiro is executed on Wednesday, the world will be darker without him,” they added.

Without a recommendation for clemency from the council, the state governor is limited to granting a one-time reprieve of 30 days. Gonzales was previously scheduled to be put to death in July 2022 before the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted a stay.

The Catholic Mobilizing Network asked people on its website to contact the Texas governor and urge him to stop Gonzales’ execution.

The site notes that Gonzales is one of the youngest people in the United States to be sentenced to death since the United States Supreme Court ruled against imposing the death penalty on people younger than 18 years old.

He also noted that Edward Gripon, a psychiatrist who testified at trial that Gonzales would pose a future danger to society, has since reevaluated that testimony and said, “With the passage of time and significant maturity (Gonzales) is now a very different person, both mentally and emotionally. This represents a positive change for the better. (He) does not pose a threat of future danger to society.

The Catholic Mobilizing Network also notes that during the nearly two decades that Gonzales spent on death row, he devoted himself to self-improvement, contemplation and prayer, noting that “he is deeply religious and shares his practice with spiritual advisors and others. death row.” He also adds that he was recently named coordinator of the prison’s new faith-based wing — a position he was removed from when he was given a new execution date in February.

Gonzales also asked the courts for a stay of execution, arguing that he does not pose a danger to society.

His lawyers argued that his execution would violate his constitutional rights under the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments.

Rojem, 66, says he is innocent of his 1984 conviction for the kidnapping, rape and murder of his 7-year-old stepdaughter. The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board denied him clemency in late June.

On its website, the Catholic Mobilizing Network said it would be the second execution of the year in the state. The first was that of Michael Smith, on April 4. The state recently instituted a policy to separate executions by 90 days to protect the mental health and well-being of those carrying out executions.

“We must work for solutions of justice that bring healing and wholeness to all, rather than continuing to cause harm,” the Catholic group said.