Bishops Ask Bush To Halt Executions

Bishops Ask Bush To Halt Executions

.c The Associated Press

 By MICHAEL HOLMES

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - The Catholic bishops of Texas have asked Gov. George W. Bush to suspend the death penalty and review capital punishment in the state, which leads the nation in executions.

``It is essential that if the state is going to impose the ultimate punishment that there be no margin of error,'' the bishops said in a letter to Bush made public Thursday.

Bush, a death penalty supporter who has presided over 119 executions since taking office in January 1995, has no plans to halt executions, spokeswoman Linda Edwards said Thursday.



Thursday's letter, written on behalf of all the Catholic bishops and signed by Richard Daly, executive director of the Texas Catholic Conference, said seven of the 85 individuals released from U.S. death rows were in Texas.

The bishops urged Bush and the state Board of Pardons and Paroles to suspend future executions on a case-by-case basis and ``conduct a thorough examination of the system by which condemned persons in Texas are executed.''

The bishops also said they would join other death penalty opponents in trying to convince the Legislature next year to impose a moratorium on executions while a review is conducted.



AP-NY-02-17-00 1644EST

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