Here at the time of the Ascension, on this Seventh Sunday of Easter, we read of the moment when capital punishment was first inflicted on a follower of Jesus, as Stephen is stoned to death for speaking openly of his faith to those who sat in judgment against him.

“For me, Father Daniel Berrigan is Jesus as a poet. If this be heresy, make the most of it.”

Since 1977, 77 percent of death-row defendants have been executed for killing white victims, even though African Americans make up about half of all homicide victims.