Inside
NCR
David Paul Hammer and Mercy Sr.
Camille DArienzo looked at each other, phones in hand, through
bulletproof glass at the Federal Prison at Terre Haute, Ind.
Well, newest Catholic in Terre Haute, how does it feel to be
part of our family? she asked.
The previous day, Oct. 27, Indianapolis Archbishop Daniel
Buechlein had come to the prison to receive Hammer into the church, give him
his first Holy Communion and confirm him.
It was the first Mass in memory to be offered in the death row
unit at the prison. And it occurred just weeks before Hammers scheduled
execution date. While executions under state laws have jumped significantly in
recent years, Hammer was to become Nov. 15 the first inmate executed under
federal law in 35 years until a federal judge intervened Nov. 1, giving him
three months to prepare his next appeal.
Hammer, in his own words, lived a sordid life. Hes spent
more than 22 of his 42 years in jail and is on federal death row for the 1996
killing of his federal prison cellmate, Andrew Marti.
The cellblock in Terre Haute was recently converted into a new
death row facility for condemned federal prisoners.
DArienzo, president of the Brooklyn Regional Community of
the Sisters of Mercy and a past president of the Leadership Conference of Women
Religious, is also founder of the Cherish Life Circle, an anti-death penalty
movement in which people sign a sworn statement saying that should they be
murdered they do not want the killer executed.
Opposition to capital punishment among Catholics may be growing
because of the work of people such as DArienzo and priests and bishops
like Buechlein, who, with their close association with those facing death, keep
teaching that killing by the state in the name of justice merely compounds the
injustice.
DArienzo has been Hammers spiritual adviser for two
years. She said that a few months ago, Hammer had dismissed previous appeals
and requested a speedy execution day. The prospect of life in prison
without parole had become insufferable. Death certainly would be a release from
the relentless isolation of death row and confinement in a 6-feet-by-10-feet
cell, she said.
Then Hammer changed his mind. He is now seeking clemency from
President Clinton. In an interview with the Terre Haute Tribune-Star, he
explained he was asking for clemency because he believes that not fighting
against his execution would make it easier for the federal government to carry
out executions of others on death row.
In federal cases, only the president has power to pardon or grant
a moratorium.
DArienzo is pleading for support. To request a commutation
of the death sentence of David Paul Hammer, 224507-077, send letters to
President Clinton in care of Atty. Ron Travis, 161 W. 3rd St., Williamsport PA
17701. Fax: 570-323-8781.
-- Tom Roberts
My e-mail address is troberts@natcath.org
National Catholic Reporter, November 10,
2000
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