Here is a piece I wrote on the death penalty for The Catholic Answer, the magazine for Our Sunday Visitor. Capital punishment is not an intrinsic evil, but if there are alternatives, we ought to use them.

“The national conversation around the use of the death penalty has been renewed since the April 29, 2014, execution of Clayton Lockett. Lockett died from a heart attack after a new drug protocol failed to end his life quickly. He eventually died, but only after excruciating pain and suffering. Because of the incident, Catholics have been reminded about the Church’s measured opposition to the death penalty.” ….