In what would have been the 1000th execution in America after the moratorium on the capital punishment was lifted in 1977, Virginia Governor Mark Warner granted clemency to Robin M. Lovitt on Nov. 29. Lovitt was scheduled to be executed the next day.

The decision proves that there is a plausible option to the death penalty. The sentence of life in prison does not undermine the pain and suffering of the victim and family, and it prevents society of repeating the crime, said Sister of La Salette Sister Connie Parcasio, diocesan director of Prison Minsitry.

This is the first time Warner has granted clemency to a convicted criminal, and it was not a decision he made lightly, he said.

"After a thorough review, it is my decision that Robin Lovitt should spend the rest of his life in prison with no eligibility for parole," the governor said.

Lovitt was convicted of killing Clayton Dicks in an Arlington pool hall with a pair of scissors during a 1998 robbery. He was originally scheduled to be executed July 11, but the U.S. Supreme Court stayed it due to confusion over lost evidence in his case.

A court clerk accidentally disposed of the scissors used in the crime, making it impossible to confirm the conviction with DNA testing.

The governor does not believe that the destruction of this evidence clears Lovitt of his crime, but it was enough to save Lovitt from facing "society’s most severe and final sanction," he said. "The Commonwealth must ensure that every time this ultimate sanction is carried out, it is done fairly."

Prior to the original July execution date, Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde and Richmond Bishop Francis X. DiLorenzo collaborated on a letter to Warner asking him to commute Lovitt’s sentence. The bishops and the many Catholics who also wrote the governor making the same request are pleased with the news.

"With his decision to grant clemency to Robin Lovitt, Governor Mark Warner evidenced a respect for the sacred breath of life bestowed upon us by our almighty creator," the bishops said in a statement released Nov. 30.

"At this welcomed moment of clemency, let us pause and consider what each of us, personally, are doing to respect and protect the sacred breath of life," the statement said.

Sister Connie called the decision a "triumph of life over death."

"A life has been spared," said Jeff Caruso, executive director of the Virginia Catholic Conference (VCC).

"The Catholic community weighed in heavily on this case," he said, adding that more than 100 members of the VCC advocate network wrote letters to the governor following the example of the Virginia bishops.

"It’s a hopeful sign that Virginia and other states will look at issues of fairness and potential flaws in the death penalty," he said.

Eileen Melia, a member of Our Lady, Queen of Peace Parish in Arlington, was elated when she heard about Warner’s decision. She wrote a letter to the governor about the Lovitt case and is also involved with a group called Catholics against Capital Punishment.

"It is good to see that the bishops are now out front on this issue," she said. Lovitt’s case is a victory, but Melia hopes to see many more Catholics join the fight against the death penalty.