On this episode of The Critical Hour with Dr. Wilmer Leon, we'll examine the Catholic church's stance on the death penalty and how the pope's statement on ending the death penalty will play out. Pope Francis says executions are unacceptable in ALL cases because they are "an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person." He also wants the church to work for the abolition of capital punishment worldwide.
As the church repositions itself is it time for the US to do the same. What has The War on Drugs and harsher sentencing policies, including mandatory minimum sentences done to the American prison process? We'll delve into a new report by the Sentencing Project entitled, Capitalizing on Mass Incarceration: US Growth in Private Prisons by Kara Gotsch examines this issue.
In our last segment, it's time to take a good look at climate change and ask is Trump's position really causing climate genocide. With Northern California ablaze, sea ice melting, sea level rising and 100-year floods and storms happening every 50 to 25 years now, for US climate justice activists it is really the only game in town. Our guest says it's the only US political movement that, by effective coalition building and massive direct action, has the remotest hope of radically overhauling our obscenely corrupt US political system-the one now obstructing virtually all effective climate action.
GUESTS:
Kara Gotsch — Director of Strategic Initiatives and oversees The Sentencing Project's federal advocacy work and develops special projects and partnerships to advance the organizational mission of reducing mass incarceration.
Archbishop George Agustus Stallings, Jr. — Founder of the Imani Temple African-American Catholic Congregation in Washington, DC.
Patrick Walker — Climate change activist and author of Climate Genocide: Why the Poor People's Campaign Should Demand Trump's Impeachment.
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