By Daniel Payne
CNA Staff, Mar 15, 2025 / 10:00 am
The Catholic bishops of Florida are urging Gov. Ron DeSantis to commute the death sentence of Edward James, who is scheduled to be executed by the state next week for a 1993 double homicide.
James pleaded guilty in 1995 to the killings of Betty Dick and her 8-year-old granddaughter Toni Neuner in Casselberry, Florida. He had strangled and raped Toni prior to her death before stabbing Betty Dick. He was ultimately apprehended in California.
In a Friday press release, the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops (FCCB) said it had “implored Gov. Ron DeSantis to stay the execution of Edward James and commute his sentence to life without parole.”
FCCB Executive Director Michael Sheedy in a letter to DeSantis noted that the murders were “heinous” and “tragic.”
“It is indeed a duty of the state to protect the lives and safety of its citizens and to impose appropriate punishment for crimes, and we recognize your responsibility in ensuring this duty is carried out,” Sheedy said.
But, he wrote, the “intrinsic dignity and unalienable rights of every human being are not annihilated by even gravely evil acts.”
“It is better for the people of Florida to punish severely without themselves acting to kill a human being,” Sheedy wrote, arguing that a life sentence without the possibility of parole “is still a severe punishment which also serves to protect society from further danger.”
The Church “teaches that all human life is sacred,” the FCCB said on Friday, writing: “Even people who have committed terrible acts and caused great harm possess a human dignity instilled by God, our Creator.”
The modern penal system has rendered executions “unnecessary,” the bishops said.
James is scheduled to be executed on Thursday. The Florida Supreme Court this week refused to block his execution, as did a federal appeals court.
The bishops’ conference said next week that prior to James’ execution Floridians “will gather across the state to pray for him and his victims, for DeSantis as he considers the request to stay the execution, and for an end to the death penalty and the cycle of violence in society.”
