The Fordham Center on Religion and Culture of Fordham University in New York held an October 2008 symposium, “Torture and American Culture,” which explored whether images in  U.S. popular culture “may have predisposed leaders to authorize torture or the public to tolerate it.” Panelists discussed shows, such as “Lost,” “24,” “The Wire” and “Sleeper Cell.” Read a […]

Read the Philadelphia grand jury findings and accompanying report after the case of a Philadelphia clergyman’s sexual misconduct . The archdiocese hired a former sex crimes prosecutor to review the personnel files of all the priests named in the grand jury’s report, and in March 2011 the archdiocese placed 21 priests on administrative leave pending a final report.

Read National Catholic Reporter coverage from May 23, 2011, of the case of the Rev. Shawn Ratigan, the priest of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph who was arrested on child pornography charges.

See a copy of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People that was revised in 2011.

A “circular letter” from the Vatican to all bishops conferences around the world was released May 16, 2011, and presents guidelines for bishops in developing policies on dealing with clergy who molest children. The Vatican also released a summary of the circular letter and a note from American Cardinal William Levada, head of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the […]

Read a copy of the John Jay College report, titled “The Causes and Context of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Catholic Priests in the United States, 1950-2010.” The report’s analysis received a great deal of criticism from all sides and continues to generate debate. The report also called on the bishops to develop further uniform and transparent […]

Read a March 1, 2012, article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch about a study that suggested changes to Missouri’s system of capital punishment.

Paul J. Litton is associate professor at the University of Missouri School of Law. His specialties include capital punishment, criminal law and morality, and bioethics.  

Dan Malone is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who has worked for various magazines and newspapers in Texas. He has taught classes at Tarleton State University and the University of North Texas. His writing and research interests include the death penalty, immigration and criminal justice. Malone is co-author of America’s Condemned: Death Row Inmates in Their Own Words.