On January 28, Rabbi Black participated in an interfaith press conference at the State Capital sponsored by the office of the Catholic Archbishop to address the issue of abolishing the Death Penalty. What follows is the text of his address. As a Rabbi - as a person of faith I come this morning to state that I fear for the soul of our nation. Ours is a society in which violence is becoming so commonplace that the threshold for events which shock, which give us pause, which cause us to cry out in horror at the inhumanity of humanity is constantly on the rise.
Murder is commonplace - both on our streets, in our homes, and in our prisons.
The death penalty, some might argue, is a deterrent - is a way to show that we are in control of the most dangerous elements in our society. It is not. The death penalty, some might argue, is the ultimate form of justice and punishment at our disposal. It is not. I do not understand how one act of violence can possibly be a moral punishment for another act of violence.