AMY GOODMAN: You are listening to Pacific Radio’s Democracy Now! as we move on to our next story today. By the way, coming up, an extended interview with a feminist historian on the most famous first lady, Eleanor Roosevelt. But right now we’re going to look at another famous family, and that is the Bushes. As George Bush continues on his presidential campaign trail with a platform of being tough on crime, his brother, Jeb Bush, is also in the national spotlight — Jeb Bush, the governor of Florida, most recently highlighted when his wife Columba was fined several thousand dollars for failing to declare $19,000 in clothes and jewelry to customs when she was coming into the United States from a shopping spree in Paris.

This week, Jeb Bush faces his first executions as governor. The first was to have taken place this morning, but the prisoner, Thomas Provenzano, obtained a last-minute stay yesterday evening from the governor, Jeb Bush. The second is Allen Davis. He faces execution on Florida’s new electric chair tomorrow morning. Lawyers for Davis, who weighs almost 400 pounds, have appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court on the grounds that he may face a slow and painful death due to his weight. Florida recently replaced its electric chair after it malfunctioned in 1997, when Pedro Medina’s head caught fire as he was executed. However, lawyers representing death row prisoners and human rights organizations say that the Florida Department of Corrections has failed to make over $200,000 in repairs to the electrical system itself, which is over 40 years old.

Jeb Bush, who converted to Catholicism after marrying his wife Columba, has received pressure from the Catholic Church to intervene on behalf of both Provenzano and Davis, the two prisoners facing execution. Two of Florida’s bishops, as well as the head of the Florida Catholic Conference, have visited the governor personally to request that he grant clemency.

When we come back from our break, we’re going to speak with Karen Koerner Crane. She’s co-founder of the Florida chapter of Catholics Against the Death Penalty. You are listening to Pacifica Radio’s Democracy Now! And after a few minutes with Karen, we’re going to go to Boston, where author Blanche Wiesen Cook is on a book tour. It is the second volume of the book on Eleanor Roosevelt that she has just published, called Eleanor Roosevelt, Vol. 2: 1933-1938. And we’ll find out more about the first lady who, when forced to cut back on staff at the White House, said she’d fire the whites, because the Black employees of the White House would have more trouble finding new jobs. You’re listening to Pacifica Radio’s Democracy Now! We’ll be back in a minute.

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AMY GOODMAN: You are listening to Pacific Radio’s Democracy Now!, The Exception to the Rulers. I’m Amy Goodman, as we go now to Florida to find out about what’s happening around the issue of the death penalty, two executions scheduled, one this morning, one tomorrow morning. The one this morning was actually granted a stay by Governor Jeb Bush. Though he does support the death penalty, he did grant a stay in the execution of Thomas Provenzano. But still, at least at this point, the second person who is scheduled to die tomorrow morning, Allen Davis, does continue to face execution; his execution has not been stayed.

We go now to Karen Koerner Crane. She is with the Florida chapter of Catholics Against the Death Penalty.

Welcome to Democracy Now!, Karen.

KAREN KOERNER CRANE: Good morning. Thank you.

AMY GOODMAN: Can you tell us about what is happening this week with these two executions? Are these the first executions of Jeb Bush’s gubernatorial career?

KAREN KOERNER CRANE: That’s correct. Thomas Provenzano was scheduled to die at 7:00 this morning. There actually were two stays, as far as we can tell. Governor Bush imposed one yesterday afternoon to allow three state psychiatrists to evaluate Thomas, and I believe the Supreme Court, the Florida Supreme Court, imposed a stay, and that is the one that still remains. As far as I can tell, Governor Bush removed his stay after these psychiatrists said that Thomas was competent and understood that he was going to be executed by the state and understood why he was going to be executed. Right now the Florida Supreme Court has kept the stay and asked the trial judge to consider this evidence of mental illness on Thomas’s behalf, the insanity defense. It is a temporary stay, and he is scheduled to die on Friday morning.

Allen Davis is scheduled to die tomorrow morning, and he will be the first person executed under Governor Jeb Bush’s reign and also with the new electric chair, which we have found out that is new partly — that is, the actual chair is new, but the electrical wiring is not. So, this is what is forming the basis of the challenges to the electric chair. Certainly, we still have a challenge in the U.S. Supreme Court. And I suspect that will be ruled on today as to whether or not the electric chair constitutes cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment. So, that’s where we are right now. Tomorrow morning, we expect that Allen Davis will be executed.

He really doesn’t have any issues other than the constitutionality of electrocution by the electric chair, which includes his excessive weight and whether or not there will be enough voltage and so forth to deal with his bodyweight. It’s something that, you know, you don’t experience before. You know, he’s the first one. It’s a shame that the Florida Supreme Court denied an appeal recently, the other day, based on these very issues. It said — there were two dissenting justices, who just believed that the electric chair is unconstitutional. There were two who made up the majority who did issue a warning, but, basically, they said, you know, “If we have problems with these two electrocutions, then we’ll come back and take another look at the chair.” This caused quite an outrage with some people, because Thomas Provenzano and Allen Davis are simply being used as guinea pigs to test the new chair. But that’s where we are at the moment.

AMY GOODMAN: Karen Crane, can you talk about the issue of religion entering into these executions, Jeb Bush being Catholic and the bishops of Florida getting involved, calling for stays, clemency?

KAREN KOERNER CRANE: OK. Yeah, some years, Governor Bush converted to Catholicism. And this has given some hope for Catholics in Florida, and perhaps throughout the nation and overseas, based on what Pope John Paul has been teaching. He’s been very outspoken about this recently and is certainly a world leader when it comes to the abolition movement. Certainly, the U.S. Catholic Conference and the bishops have been following in his stride.

And basically, the pope is — its doctrine now. It grew out of his Gospel of Life, Evangelium vitae, of 1995, in which he basically said that as a consequence of the possibilities which the state has now for effectively preventing crime by rendering the criminal incapable of doing harm with modern-day penal systems and so forth, we do not need capital punishment. We do not need to definitively take away the possibility of the inmate redeeming himself. And the pope said that the need for execution is very rare, is practically nonexistent. And basically, out of that has grown now complete and unequivocal abolition as church doctrine, being led by the pope, and the bishops have expanded on this recently in various letters and Easter statements.

I, myself, do not see any, in this day and age, rare instance in which the death penalty is the only viable option in a developed, civilized nation like the U.S.A. The self-defense rare exception in the encyclical that is found is not needed in this country, simply because we can defend ourselves by imposing life in prison without parole. And, in fact, in Florida now, if the state does seek to impose the death penalty, there are only two options the jury can go for. One is the death penalty. The other is life without parole, which means the inmate will leave the prison in a coffin.

So, but getting back to your question on the religious element, Governor Jeb Bush purports to be a devout Catholic. If he is — you know, and he has a wonderful opportunity now, as a Catholic public official, as leader of our state. And this is what the bishops, you know, are talking to him about, and Catholic leaders in the state. He has the opportunity to make the politics of human life work to resist the violence and scandal of capital punishment. And that’s what the pope is talking about. He’s made it quite clear that it is immoral to use the death penalty. The pope has reminded us all, certainly Catholic public officials — a letter was released by the U.S. bishops last November, addressed to Catholic public officials and Catholics in community leadership positions. Basically, they said, as did the pope, that we must respect every life, all life, even that of criminals and unjust aggressors. No matter how serious the crime, the pope says, punishment that doesn’t take life is more in conformity with the dignity of the human person. So, the bishops are hoping — we are hoping that Governor Bush, being a Catholic, will look to the teachings of the church.

Of course, we must understand that a lot of Catholics still don’t agree with the teachings. I don’t know that it’s they don’t agree with it. It’s that they just don’t understand it. And I think it’s a question that we must learn to answer, not only Catholics but Christians. Why is it a moral obligation for all Christians to become informed about the church’s opposition to capital punishment? And it has given, I think, these executions and the fact that Governor Bush is Catholic — it has given an opportunity now for the dialogue to open and increase in the Catholic churches. Certainly here in Orlando, Catholics Against the Death Penalty has certainly grown, to where we had 200 people come out the weekend before last who signed letters of protest to Governor Bush about these execution warrants. So, it is a significant factor, and the Florida Catholic Conference is making a presence. We have Pax Christi very active now, and, of course, CADPF, and a lot of people who are not Catholics. The synagogues down here are working with us to try and prevail on Governor Bush that, indeed, as a Catholic public official, you have a wonderful opportunity to make the politics of human life work to resist the scandal and violence of capital punishment, which cannot be supported. The — well, in his case, political reasons and —

AMY GOODMAN: Karen Koerner Crane, do you see any effect of the presidential campaign of Jeb Bush’s brother, George W. Bush Jr., on these executions?

KAREN KOERNER CRANE: I’m sure there is, unfortunately. I’ve seen no concrete evidence of that, outside of these executions. I don’t know that even if he wasn’t running for the presidential campaign, though, that Governor Bush would not have signed these warrants. But I —

AMY GOODMAN: What is the difference between Governor Bush and the previous governor of Florida when it comes to executions?

KAREN KOERNER CRANE: Governor Chiles, well, he signed — basically, he signed the execution warrants. You know, there weren’t that many.

AMY GOODMAN: He was a Democrat.

KAREN KOERNER CRANE: He was a Democrat. Incidentally, Florida has released 18 people from death row because of innocence. That’s the highest in the country. That’s a frightening phenomenon, that is. But I think it’s interesting that we’ve just had a “choose life” license plate brought in, boast in, in this state. It’s supposed to be — well, it is to support adoptions, but, of course, the pro-life people, you know, it can do double up as a tag for them. And it’s ironic that with the same pen that authorized the new new “choose life” license plates, Governor Bush also signed his first two death warrants.

AMY GOODMAN: What do you mean, “choose life” license plates?

KAREN KOERNER CRANE: Well, Florida has just introduced these “choose life” license plates that you can buy, which actually support adoption of children.

AMY GOODMAN: You mean like the New Hampshire plates, where it says, “Live free or die,” yours says “Choose life”?

KAREN KOERNER CRANE: I’m sure it’s similar, “Choose life.” And what I’m saying is it’s ironic. And, of course, the Catholic lobby was there with that, because it all fits into the seamless garment of life, the consistent ethic of life teaching that the Catholic Church lives by, which is that all life is sacred, from conception to natural death. And, of course, that’s how the death penalty argument must be sustained — the anti-death penalty argument must be sustained by Catholics. You know, if you’re against abortion, you’re against euthanasia, you must be consistent, must be against the death penalty. And the “choose life” license plate, even though it is to support adoption, it gave the anti-abortion people, you know, a platform in which to further their cause. And Jeb Bush, Governor Bush, holds himself out as a Catholic: “I’m against abortion.” And yet, he turns around and says, “I can sign these execution warrants.” That goes against the consistent ethic of life, the intrinsic value of life. Only God should decide who lives and who dies.

AMY GOODMAN: Well, Karen Koerner Crane, I want to thank you very much for being with us, co-founder of the Florida chapter of Catholics Against the Death Penalty. And folks —

KAREN KOERNER CRANE: Thank you very much.

AMY GOODMAN: Thank you very much, Karen, joining us from Orlando, Florida. And if you want to get information on her organization and the executions that are scheduled to take place tomorrow morning and Friday morning, you can go to our website, and we’ve got phone numbers and websites. That’s www.pacifica.org.