More than 100 faith leaders are trying to prevent Andre Thomas’s execution
Imagine what might happen if they poured that energy into abolishing the death penalty in Texas.
Occasionally a person on death row catches the attention of a large group of clergy. In February, more than 100 Texas faith leaders—Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, and Buddhist—signed a letter to the governor and the state board of parole and pardons, asking for clemency for Andre Thomas, who is scheduled to be executed on April 5. If the request is granted, they note, Thomas will be imprisoned for life without parole.
Thomas began hearing voices in his head at age nine. His family couldn’t afford mental health care, and as he grew up he self-medicated in unhealthy ways. After years of delusions and unhelpful encounters with the healthcare system, Thomas violently killed three family members who he believed to be demons. He went to prison, where he gouged out both of his eyes. His mental health has deteriorated so much over 19 years of incarceration that it’s unlikely he understands his situation.
The faith leaders recount this history in their letter, and they name Texas’s systemic failure to provide treatment for low-income residents with mental illness. “Across our different faith traditions, we all believe in a just, merciful, and loving God,” they write, noting that Thomas was consistently denied the kind of help that may have prevented his crime—help that would have been just, merciful, and loving.
