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Quick to Listen

Does the Death Penalty Bring Justice for Victims and Their Families?

Quick to Listen

Christianity Today

Religion, Christianity, Religion & Spirituality

4.3 • 622 Ratings

🗓️ 16 December 2020

⏱️ 65 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Transcribed highlights of the show can be found in our episode summaries. Last week the Trump administration carried out its 9th and 10th federal execution of 2020. On Wednesday night, the state executed a 40-year-old man, Brandon Bernard. According to the AP, “when Bernard was 18 he and four other teenagers abducted and robbed Todd and Stacie Bagley on their way from a Sunday service in Killeen, Texas, during which Bernard doused their car with lighter fluid and set it on fire with their bodies in the back trunk.” Bernard’s death comes several months after the Justice Department surfaced a proposal to “reintroduce firing squads and electrocutions for federal executions, giving the government more options for administering capital punishment as drugs used in lethal injections become unavailable.” Last Friday, the government executed Alfred Bourgeois, who has an intellectual disability, whose should have meant he could not have been up for the death penalty. But Bourgeois’s trial lawyers did not present evidence of his intellectual disability to the jury. He was the 17th person executed in the united states this year, and the country’s last scheduled execution for 2020. This week on Quick to Listen, we wanted to discuss how to wrestle with the death penalty, accountability, justice, and forgiveness from someone who has straddled many sides of this situation.  Jeanne Bishop, a felony trial attorney in the Office of the Cook County Public Defender in Chicago. She is the author of Change of Heart: Justice, Mercy, and Making Peace with My Sister’s Killer and Grace From the Rubble: Two Fathers’ Road to Reconciliation After the Oklahoma City Bombing. Bishop joined global media manager Morgan Lee and editorial director Ted Olsen to discuss how her work and sister’s murder have impacted how she views the death penalty, what accountability and justice look like outside of the death penalty, and how to pray for those in the criminal justice system during the pandemic.  What is Quick to Listen? Read more Rate Quick to Listen on Apple Podcasts Follow the podcast on Twitter Follow our hosts on Twitter: Morgan Lee and Ted Olsen Follow our guest on Twitter: Jeanne Bishop Visit Jeanne Bishop’s website Music by Sweeps Quick to Listen is produced by Morgan Lee and Matt Linder The transcript is edited by Yvonne Su Read Morgan’s interview with Jeanne: Forgiving Her Sister's Murderer, Face to Face Read Ted’s piece about Pullman, Disney World, and churches Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

This episode is brought to you in part by The Apologetics Guy Show, the podcast that helps you find clear answers to tough questions about Christianity.

0:11.1

Learn to explain your faith with courage and compassion.

0:14.5

Join Moody Bible Institute professor Dr. Mikhail del Rosario at apologeticsky.com.

0:26.6

Programming note. This episode, a quick to listen, contains references to sexual assault. Last week, the Trump administration carried out its ninth and 10th federal execution of 2020.

0:33.6

On Wednesday night, the state executed a 40-year-old man, Brandon Bernard. This is according to the AP.

0:41.1

When Bernard was 18, he and four other teenagers abducted and robbed Todd and Stacey

0:45.9

Bagley on their way from a Sunday service in Killing, Texas, during which Bernard doused their

0:51.6

car with lighter fluid and set it on fire with their bodies in the back trunk.

0:56.8

Bernard's situation was unique in that he was 18 at the time he committed the crime.

1:01.2

At a press conference before Bernard's death, Bagley's mother read from her prepared statement.

1:06.0

Without this process, my family and I would not have the closure.

1:10.5

We needed to move on in life.

1:12.8

She called the killings, this senseless act of unnecessary evil.

1:16.6

Then she broke down and began speaking off script.

1:20.0

The apology and the remorse that was shown to the family and the fact that they regretted their acts at that time helped very much to heal my heart.

1:36.0

And I can truly say I forgive them.

1:41.2

And this is because Bernard had apologized several days before his death.

1:45.5

I can't imagine how they feel about losing their family.

1:50.7

And I wish that we could all go back and change it.

1:55.6

And I'm sorry for all the pain.

1:58.9

Bernard's death comes several months after the Justice Department

2:01.7

surfaced a proposal to, quote,

...

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