Americans are split on the death penalty. Though 66% claim to favor execution of capital criminals a crucial number of these--48%--also consider life imprisonment without parole an equally suitable punishment.

In Choosing Mercy Antoinette Bosco tells why she agrees with this alternative sentencing. As a mother of murder victims she understands too well rage, the pain, the desire of an eye for an eye. Ultimately Bosco has found that "the pain of losing loved ones to murder is not lessened by the killing of another." She joins the growing number of Americans who are objecting to capital punishment. These objections come not only on moral grounds but also because of calamitous failures and inequities in what one chaplain Toni has worked with calls "our criminal injustice system". These include erratic sentencing, the highly disproportionate number of indigents and minorities sentenced to death, and the alarming number of wrongly convicted prisoners on death row - all of which Bosco details in Choosing Mercy.

Having recently testified before the Connecticut state legislature to urge a moratorium on executions in her home state, Bosco knows that anti-death attitudes must begin in the hearts of individuals who must then influence policy-makers. The search for justice, mercy and truth is complicated but necessary. Only then, she writes, can "we stop the lie built into our society: that the state should kill to show others that killing is wrong."

Bosco’s self-examination after brutality struck forced her to face her own beliefs and values, and to learn what Christianity requires and provides. "Forgiveness doesn’t mean giving in, it means to let go, and letting go is a pre-condition to becoming free. Jesus showed us the way: forgiveness." Now she pleads with those who support the government’s wish to vindicate the murders of her children via execution, "Please don’t kill in my name."