In the news today is a ruling on a death penalty case in which Justice Alito voted to stay an execution pending more arguments before the appeals court.^{{1]/a/sup This is news because Justice Alito did not vote with Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Scalia and Thomas. The death penalty certainly can/em be just and right. It is/em within the powers of the State, if exercised appropriately. The key though is “exercised appropriately,” which translates to “only when we cannot otherwise protect society.” I doubt we are in such straights anywhere near as often as we sentence to death. And so I can understand Alito’s vote. Let us pray that he votes pro-life not only on this issue but on all./p}

1. Ms. Gina Holland. “Alito Splits Ranks With Conservatives in Missouri Death Penalty Case” The Associated Press. 2006-02-03 http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1138874710211&rss=newswire /font/li/font/ol