As Connecticut Plans First Execution in 45 Years; Murder Victims' Families for Reconciliation Opposes Death Penalty

Interview with pacifist and activist Art Laffin, member of Murder Victims' Families for Reconciliation, conducted by Melinda Tuhus

Last week, serial killer and rapist Michael Ross almost came very close to being the first person executed in Connecticut -- and all of New England -- in 45 years. After spending 17 years on death row, Ross had dropped his voluntary appeals and convinced judges, lawyers and psychiatrists that he was competent to choose death. But his execution has been postponed several times due to court intervention. The most recent delay in carrying out the death sentence occurred on Jan. 31 after Ross' attorney, T. R. Paulding, filed motions in state and federal court asking for a new hearing on his client's competency based on new and significant evidence.

Death penalty abolitionists, who have been organizing against the execution for the past three months, gathered at a church near the maximum security prison where Ross was to receive a lethal injection at 2:01 a.m. on Jan. 29. They came to pray, sing and listen to speakers who stated their view that the state-sponsored taking of human life is wrong.

One of the speakers was Art Laffin, a lifelong pacifist and activist with the Catholic Worker movement and a member of Murder Victims' Families for Reconciliation. He explains his reaction to his brother's murder and why, despite his personal loss, he continues to believe that capital punishment is wrong. This interview was conducted shortly before Michael Ross's execution was postponed, when Laffin still expected the death sentence to be carried out.

Visit the Murder Victims' Families for Reconciliation's website at: www.mvfr.org

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