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August 21, 2017TALLAHASSEE, FL – After eighteen months with no executions in our state, Mark Asay is scheduled to be executed on Thursday, August 24, 2017, at 6:00 p.m. Asay received two death sentences for the 1987 murders of Robert Lee Booker and Robert McDowell.
In an August 21 letter on behalf of the bishops of Florida, Michael Sheedy, executive director, Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops, appealed to Governor Rick Scott to commute Asay’s death sentence to a life sentence without the possibility of parole.
"Indeed, Mr. Asay’s violent acts call out for justice and should be condemned," said Sheedy. "However, life without parole is an alternative and severe sentence. We hold that if non-lethal means are available to keep society safe from an aggressor, then authority must limit itself to such means."
In concluding his letter to the governor, Sheedy notes, “We pray for all involved in this tragic situation: you, as the final authority in the state over Mr. Asay’s life or death; the condemned and his conversion guided by his spiritual advisors; and the victims and their loved ones.”
Prior to Asay’s scheduled execution, Catholic faithful and other concerned Floridians will gather in prayer in locations around the state.
Click here to see the full text of Sheedy’s letter to Governor Scott. Click here to see a list of locations and times for prayer vigils:
# # #The Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops is an agency of the Catholic Bishops of Florida. It speaks for the Church in matters of public policy and serves as liaison to the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government. The archbishop and bishops of the seven (arch)dioceses in Florida constitute its board of directors.