09-29-2015, 05:33 PM
Appeals Board Denies Pope's Request
Last week during his U.S. Congressional Address, Pope Francis called for abolition of the death penalty around the world.
Today, he sent a letter specifically requesting that death row inmate Kelly Gissendaner be shown mercy and spared. He sent the letter to the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles via Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, his diplomatic representative in the U.S.
"While not wishing to minimize the gravity of the crime for which Ms. Gissendaner has been convicted, and while sympathizing with the victims, I nonetheless implore you, in consideration of the reasons that have been expressed to your board, to commute the sentence to one that would better express both justice and mercy," Vigano wrote.
![[Image: popegissendaner.jpg]](http://cbsnews1.cbsistatic.com/hub/i/r/2015/09/29/43015647-6c9f-4ad2-b68a-10da1aadab1b/thumbnail/620x350/0d2c3a2b70dbd7b9c29a2c0da9e3b366/popegissendaner.jpg)
The 47-year-old Gissendaner ^ was convicted of murder in the February 1997 slaying of her husband. She conspired with her lover, who stabbed Douglas Gissendaner to death.
Gissendaner still has legal challenges pending before the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court.
Two of Gissendaner's three children already asked the board earlier this year to spare their mother's life. Her oldest child, Brandon, who had not previously addressed the board, now wants to make a plea for his mother's life, said Susan Casey, an attorney for Gissendaner.
"Forgiving our mother was the best way to truly honor our dad's memory," Dakota Gissendaner, who was 5 when his father died, said in the video. Kayla Gissendaner said she didn't believe her father would want her mother to be executed to spare his children from more pain. She said her mother has grown and changed while she has been in prison, describing her as "my biggest cheerleader."
The Board has denied both the papal request and that of inmate's children.
Gissendaner is scheduled to die by injection of pentobarbital at 7 p.m. tonight at the state prison in Jackson. She would be the first woman executed in the state in seven decades.
Ref: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/pope-francis...ssendaner/
Last week during his U.S. Congressional Address, Pope Francis called for abolition of the death penalty around the world.
Today, he sent a letter specifically requesting that death row inmate Kelly Gissendaner be shown mercy and spared. He sent the letter to the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles via Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, his diplomatic representative in the U.S.
"While not wishing to minimize the gravity of the crime for which Ms. Gissendaner has been convicted, and while sympathizing with the victims, I nonetheless implore you, in consideration of the reasons that have been expressed to your board, to commute the sentence to one that would better express both justice and mercy," Vigano wrote.
The 47-year-old Gissendaner ^ was convicted of murder in the February 1997 slaying of her husband. She conspired with her lover, who stabbed Douglas Gissendaner to death.
Gissendaner still has legal challenges pending before the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court.
Two of Gissendaner's three children already asked the board earlier this year to spare their mother's life. Her oldest child, Brandon, who had not previously addressed the board, now wants to make a plea for his mother's life, said Susan Casey, an attorney for Gissendaner.
"Forgiving our mother was the best way to truly honor our dad's memory," Dakota Gissendaner, who was 5 when his father died, said in the video. Kayla Gissendaner said she didn't believe her father would want her mother to be executed to spare his children from more pain. She said her mother has grown and changed while she has been in prison, describing her as "my biggest cheerleader."
The Board has denied both the papal request and that of inmate's children.
Gissendaner is scheduled to die by injection of pentobarbital at 7 p.m. tonight at the state prison in Jackson. She would be the first woman executed in the state in seven decades.
Ref: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/pope-francis...ssendaner/