Let’s all take a moment to reflect on Senator Ted Kennedy, who opposed the death penalty even though two of his brothers were murdered. The fight against the death penalty was very important to Senator Kennedy. He wrote a letter to the Pope shortly before his death in which he listed the ways in which his politics comported with Catholic social teaching, saying: “I have done my best to champion the rights of the poor and open doors of economic opportunity. I’ve worked to welcome the immigrant, fight discrimination and expand access to health care and education. I have opposed the death penalty and fought to end war. Those are the issues that have motivated me and been the focus of my work as a United States Senator.’’
Thank you, Senator Kennedy! You fought for so many. Today, we mourn you. Today, we are all Kennedys.
Here is a video from a few years ago in which Kennedy talks about the death penalty.
Of course he opposed the death penalty — his actions at Chappaquiddick showed such a callous disregard for innocent life that support for the death penalty for other killers would have been hypocritical.
"Fine Longhand. Last week the Senator made his move. Sirhan's jury had voted the death penalty on April 23, and Superior Court Judge Herbert V. Walker was considering a motion to reduce the sentence. Kennedy drafted a plea for mercy in his fine longhand. He sent copies to Ethel, Sisters Pat Lawford and Jean Smith, and his mother, Rose. They had discussed the matter before; all approved the text. Then Ted sent his original copy to Judge Walker. "My brother was a man of love and sentiment and compassion," he wrote. "He would not have wanted his death to be a cause for the taking of another life.""
Friday, May 30, 1969
TIME Magazine
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,840107,00.html