So, doesn't every Catholic now have a legal right not to cooperate with the prison system?

[Recursion]

Pope Francis has now decreed that capital punishment is "absolutely inadmissable", as a doctrinal question. No faithful Catholic can support it anymore.

I wonder if the GOP has really thought through what these "religious freedom" laws will mean, in situations like these.

[lapfog_1]

1. opens the door to jury nullification

commit a murder and insist on getting a catholic on the jury and the prosecutor to charge with a death penalty outcome.

[B2G]

6. How is someone going to 'insist' upon that?

I'm sure it will he asked during the jury interview process, but a defendant doesn't get to say the jury must consist of people of a political religious persuasion.

And lawyers already ask about opinions on the death penalty during voir dire.

[lapfog_1]

7. Insist was too strong a word

But the defense lawyers would be remiss if they didn't ask enough questions to ensure that at least one catholic is seated.

Of course, it would be a gamble... you might get the odd catholic who doesn't follow church cannon.

[B2G]

8. That's not the way it works.

For a trial where the death penalty is an option upon conviction, that's already a prime topic during jury selection. A prosecutor would never allow a juror to be seated if they couldn't render that verdict.

[dsc]

10. they can't insist and in point of fact if a juror states s/he is against the death penalty

then s/he can't be seated. What will be interesting is if Catholic jurors state that they can vote for the death penalty but prosecutors start using their challenges to eliminate Catholics. I have no idea how courts will react to that.

[gratuitous]

2. Thought it through? They haven't thought, really, at all

The whole thing is a pander to their poor, oppressed, put-upon fans who believe they're under constant and existential attack from their fellow citizens. The reality is infinitely worse: We don't think about them very much, if at all. The only time their retrograde philosophy breaks the surface is when they're perpetrating some atrocity and blaming God for them having to be such flaming jerks.

But it might be interesting to see what effect the Pope's statement has on the Supreme Court, which is chock full of Catholics.

[marylandblue]

3. Yes , they've thought it through, and it's simple really

Religious freedom ends at your exit from the uterus.

[Recursion]

4. Ain't that the damn truth (nt)

[lapucelle]

5. I actually volunteer with the NETWORK Lobby (aka Nuns on a Bus),

and we've called (generally Republican) Catholic legislators en masse (they love to start with Paul Ryan) to remind them that if they are pro-death penalty, they cannot claim to be "pro-life"; they are, in fact, merely "anti-abortion".

We made calls every Wednesday in Lent in 2017 (starting with Paul Ryan on Ash Wednesday) to shame Catholics in office into walking the walk concerning health care and this year to shame them concerning immigration policy.

I've never been asked by the Sisters to call over abortion or federal or Supreme Court appointments. My guess would be that they vote D down the line. (It's the priests who seem to be generally Republican.)

Nuns are amazingly radical, and this Pope seems to be paying attention.

[Recursion]

9. I love that. Thank you so much

Keep it up!