TALLAHASSEE, FL –
After over three decades on death row, Michael Lambrix is scheduled to be executed on Thursday, October 5, 2017, at 6:00 p.m. Lambrix received two death sentences for the 1983 murders of Clarence Moore and Aleisha Bryant.
In a September 28 letter on behalf of the bishops of Florida, Michael Sheedy, executive director, Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops, appeals to Governor Rick Scott to commute Mr. Lambrix’s death sentence to a life sentence without the possibility of parole.
Sheedy expresses concern with the arbitrariness with which the death penalty is applied. “Supporters of the death penalty generally presume that this most extreme of sentences is reserved for the ‘worst of the worst,’ when in fact it is applied in a very arbitrary manner,” wrote Sheedy. “Note that Mr. Lambrix indicates he was offered a plea deal, which, had he accepted it, would have allowed him to return to society and his family by now. Instead, he faces execution.”
Sheedy also laments the partial retroactivity applied to non-unanimous death sentences. “Had [Mr. Lambrix’s] sentence been finalized after June 2002, he would be eligible for resentencing and possible commutation to a life sentence without parole,” said Sheedy.
Prior to Lambrix’s scheduled execution, Catholic faithful and other concerned Floridians will gather in various locations across the state to pray for the victims and their families, the condemned on death row, and the governor.