Archbishop Coakley warns of ‘ominous path’ as Oklahoma, 2 other states execute condemned inmates

Oklahoma City Archbishop Paul Coakley this week lamented Oklahoma’s execution of a condemned murderer, calling for prayers for both the killer’s victims and the killer himself while urging a “more humane form of justice.”

The state on Aug. 13 put to death Carlos Cuesta-Rodriguez, who was convicted of killing Olimpia Fisher in Oklahoma City in 2003. The execution was carried out at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary shortly after 10 a.m. CT.

Tennessee executed Anthony Darrell Hines, who was convicted of killing Catherine Jenkins in 1985, on Aug. 13, and later that day Alabama planned to execute Jeremy Tremaine Williams for the rape and murder of 5-year-old Kamarie Holland in 2021.

The last time three U.S. states carried out executions on the same day was in 2010, when Louisiana, Ohio, and Texas put inmates to death, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

In a press release also posted to X, Coakley — who serves as president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops — expressed “sadness” over the execution and said he was “disheartened” as Oklahoma “continues along an ominous path.”

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The archbishop said the state was “carrying out executions with a frequency and regularity that places it among the nation’s leaders” in capital punishment.

Coakley has regularly urged authorities to end the death penalty. In 2022, after a federal court dismissed a challenge to the state’s capital punishment regime, Coakley called on lawmakers to end executions there. He argued that an execution devalues human life and “does not ultimately bring closure and peace to those who have lost a loved one.”

The archbishop has also repeatedly lamented specific executions in the state, including that of Kendrick Simpson, who was put to death in February.

On Aug. 13, he noted that the execution of Cuesta-Rodriguez constituted the 132nd time Oklahoma has killed someone since 1990.

“Capital punishment does not provide justice,” he said. “Our modern prisons are secure. Life imprisonment offers assurance that citizens are not at risk. And it allows for a conversion of hearts.”

He asked readers to “join me in praying for the victim of this crime, Olimpia Fisher, and her family, as well as Carlos Cuesta-Rodriguez and his family.”

Coakley is among the numerous U.S. bishops that regularly advocate against the death penalty. The Death Penalty Information Center says that among the 50 U.S. states since 1976 Oklahoma has had far and away the most executions relative to its population, though Texas has executed nearly five times as many people overall as Oklahoma.