In their pastoral statement Restoring All To The Fullness Of Life, the New York State Catholic Bishops looked at restorative justice. Thus, when we assault the dignity or destroy the life of even the most hardened criminal, we assault Christ. Cuddy said that justice can be done while respecting human dignity. The current system is faulty. There are people being found innocent, usually poor or black.
Few crimes meet the level to be treated as a capital case.
I would like to see a prison system where growth and development occur. A prison system that holds people for life without parole, but that respects the dignity of people, so they cannot harm people in the future. The New York State Bishops state that corrections policies are not appropriate. To accomplish this, our corrections policies must protect society by incarcerating those who endanger public safety, and it must provide assurance to victims that those who have harmed them will be justly punished. New York State re-instituted the death penalty in 1995.