Corporate Stances

What We Say

Corporate Stance
on the Abolition of the Death Penalty

We, the Dominican Sisters of San Rafael, are committed to a stance of nonviolence.  We hold a vision which reverences and affirms the inherent dignity of every person and work to transform attitudes and systems which deprive people of dignity.  Therefore, we declare our opposition to the death penalty.

• We support a consistent ethic of life that is Gospel-based, viewing all life as sacred and all persons as loved by God and redeemable.  We stand in solidarity with Pope John II, the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, the Conference of Major Superiors of Men, and people of all traditions who have called for the abolition of the death penalty on religious, moral or humanistic grounds.
  
  
• We recognize the need to reach out in compassion to families of both victims and perpetrators, supporting them in their loss and pain.
  
  
• We recognize the culture of violence in the world in which we live.  To assure the safety of society, we hold that life in prison without the possibility of parole is an effective and viable alternative to the death penalty for perpetrators of heinous crimes.

• We also recognize the necessity to address the roots of violence, to challenge the inequities in our justice system, and to reform our prison system.

Joining our voices to those who call for an immediate moratorium on the death penalty, we take our stand on the side of life and pledge ourselves to do what we can to see that the death penalty is abolished in our land.

Adopted January 2000

What We Do

     We have sponsored interfaith prayer vigils in our Gathering Space on the eve of an execution at San Quentin.  Following this, sisters join the midnight vigil at the East Gate on re prison. 

     The Promoter of Justice sends monthly Execution Alerts that list scheduled executions throughout our nation, asking for the sisters’ prayers for the condemned and for the victims and loved ones.

     As an extension of our corporate stance we lobby our legislators for a moratorium on the death penalty with the goal of eventual abolition.  We also work for prison reform and challenge the inequities of our justice system, specifically the need for restorative rather than punitive judicial responses especially for juvenile offenders, the overcrowding of prisons and health concerns, and the extensive incarceration for non-violent offenders involved in drugs and parole violations.

     Many of our sisters work directly with offenders in both prisons and jails, through pen-pal correspondence, visiting on death row, tutoring and spiritual direction.  We have a group of sisters who visit regularly (Sunday afternoons) in the women’s section of the Marin County jail.

     As part of our commitment to anti-violence, we also lobby against torture and for gun control (assault weapons, etc.)

     We support many organizations that are working for prisoner relief and the abolition of the death penalty (i.e. Death Penalty Focus, California People of Faith Against the Death Penalty, the Justice Project, Sentencing Project, Office of Restorative Justice, Lifelines).