Death Row Chaplain's Presentation About the Death Penalty

Death row chaplain and author Dale Recinella will bring his unique perspective on the death penalty to an audience at Temple Emanuel, 150 Derby Ave., Friday April 29, at 8 p.m.

Recinella ministers to inmates on death row and in solitary confinement on behalf of the Catholic Bishops of Florida. He took on this lay ministry as a volunteer after serving for years as an attorney at a high-powered law firm in the ‘90’s.

A graduate of Notre Dame Law, he was a supporter of the death penalty until fateful circumstances caused him to examine America’s death penalty in the light of his Catholic faith. The result of this examination is his book The Biblical Truth About America’s Death Penalty, which draws heavily on the Torah and Talmud in examining capital punishment.

“If you had come to me in 1985 when I was a partner in a major law firm I would have told you that I support the death penalty,” Recinella said. “The depth of my analysis was, ‘It says ‘eye for an eye,’ tooth for a tooth’ in the bible.”

However, years of ministry to the families of murder victims, to those being executed, to families of the executed, and to staff at Florida's death row prison changed his beliefs.

“I have had to dig back into the Scriptures much more deeply and my conclusion is that I think life in prison without possibility of parole is punishment that fully grants retribution for the evil done.”