Conversations that Matter | Witnessing Hope and Reconciliation: Human Dignity and the Death Penalty

Herman Lindsey was wrongfully convicted and sent to Florida’s death row in 2006 for the 1994 robbery and murder of Ft. Lauderdale pawnshop owner Joanne Mazzola. He spent three years under a death sentence before the Florida Supreme Court unanimously ruled in July 2009 that there was not enough evidence to convict him of any crime. The court noted that “the state had failed to produce any evidence in this case placing Lindsey at the scene of the crime at the time of the murder,” and that the evidence presented was “equally consistent with a reasonable hypothesis of innocence.” The chief justice issued a separate opinion condemning the prosecutor for asking prejudicial questions designed to inflame the jury. After his exoneration, Lindsey became the 135th person in the United States — and the 23rd in Florida — to be freed from death row since the reinstatement of the death penalty. Florida continues to have the highest number of death row exonerations in the nation.

Today, Lindsey works tirelessly to educate the public about the injustices of the death penalty and the flaws within the criminal legal system. He is the Executive Director of Witness to Innocence, serves on the Board of Directors of Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, and previously served as an Ambassador for Represent Justice. He also hosts Cruel Justice, an online show where he interviews guests about criminal justice reform. Herman speaks nationally and internationally, including in Italy and Belgium, sharing his story to inspire action for justice.

Emmjolee Mendoza Waters serves as the Director of the Death Penalty Abolition Program. Emmjolee is new to the CMN family, joining in August of 2023.

Emmjolee brings 20 years of experience in education, advocacy, and ministry with a particular focus on young adults. During Emmjolee’s tenure at The Catholic University of America, she helped build a culture of service and justice, rooted in Catholic Social Teaching. She created faith-based programs that engaged young adults in direct service, in local and national advocacy, and in holistic formation.

Emmjolee has organized social justice advocacy and education programs around issues of hunger and homelessness, food insecurity, race, and diversity. She has extensive partnerships locally, nationally, and internationally; all focused on mutual relationship building.

She served as a Jesuit Volunteer in Belize for two years as a teacher and school librarian. She holds a Master's in Social Work from The National Catholic School of Social Service with a focus on social justice and social change. Emmjolee, her husband Larry, and their five kids reside in Washington, D.C.

The Most Reverend William A. Wack, C.S.C., is the sixth bishop of Pensacola-Tallahassee. Appointed by Pope Francis on May 29, 2017, he was ordained and installed as bishop on August 22, 2017.

Born and raised in South Bend, Indiana, to Dr. James and Alice Wack, Bishop Wack (pronounced “wok” from the German Wach) is the ninth of ten children. He attended Christ the King Catholic School and graduated from LaSalle (public) High School. Bishop Wack entered formation at the Old College Undergraduate Seminary at the University of Notre Dame, where he earned a degree in government and international relations in 1989.

After professing initial vows upon completing his novitiate with the Congregation of Holy Cross, he earned a Master of Divinity, which he received in 1993. Bishop Wack professed solemn vows on August 28, 1993, and was ordained a priest on April 9, 1994, at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart at the University of Notre Dame. Following ordination, he served as parochial vicar at Sacred Heart Church in Colorado Springs. In July 1997, he returned to Notre Dame as associate director of vocations for the U.S. Province of Priests and Brothers of the Congregation of Holy Cross. In addition, he served as director of the Freshman Retreat Program at Notre Dame and worked in Campus Ministry until 2002. Bishop Wack then moved to Arizona to serve as director of André House of Hospitality, which serves the homeless and poor of Central Phoenix from 2002 until 2008. Prior to his appointment as Bishop of Pensacola-Tallahassee, he served not only as pastor of St. Ignatius Martyr Parish in Austin, Texas, but also as vicar of the Central Austin Deanery.

As bishop of Pensacola-Tallahassee, he wrote and released his first Pastoral Letter, Sharing the Gift, on November 6, 2021 – the anniversary of the establishment of the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee. On October 12, 2023, Bishop Wack closed the diocesan phase of the Cause for Beatification for Servants of God Antonio Inija and 57 Companions with a Mass of Thanksgiving. He released his second Pastoral Letter, Restored, Anointed, Nourished, on May 28, 2025, detailing plans for the diocese to move to a restored order of the sacraments of initiation.

Bishop Wack currently serves as an active member of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations; the USCCB Subcommittee on the Catholic Communication Campaign; and the USCCB Bishops Working Group on Youth and Young Adults. He serves as treasurer of the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops, a member of the Board of Governors of Catholic Extension, the Episcopal Liaison for the National Council of Catholic Women, and the Episcopal Advisor for the Catholic Prison Ministry Coalition. Bishop Wack also serves as a member of the board for the Florida Housing Enterprises, Inc.

Robert Dunham is the founder and director of the Death Penalty Policy Project, Vice Chair of the Board of Directors of Witness to Innocence, and special counsel in the non-profit public interest law practice at Phillips Black, Inc. An internationally recognized expert on the death penalty, he has more than thirty years experience in death penalty policy and practice, including 25 years representing clients on Pennsylvania's death row, eight years as Executive Director of the Death Penalty Information Center, and 14 years teaching death penalty law at Villanova Law School and the Temple University Beasley School of Law. He has been a featured speaker at death penalty conferences and training programs across the United States and internationally, argued in the U.S. Supreme Court, and been a member of capital defense teams that have freed four innocent men from death row.

 

Monique Lee-Coleman is a native New Orleanian and U.S. Army Veteran who is the sister of Ryan Matthews, the 115th exoneree from death row. Monique relocated to Denton, Texas, following Hurricane Katrina to support and facilitate her brother Ryan's reintegration. Monique's decision to remain in Texas is a direct result of recognizing the hardships, harassment, and discrimination her brother would face following his exoneration. Inspired by her family's trauma, in 2014, Monique earned her B.S. in Criminal Justice. Later, she would earn a Master's of Social Work from the University of Texas at Arlington under the mentorship of Dr. Cecile Guin, the social worker who advocated on her brother’s behalf. Monique returned to Texas Woman's University and earned her Ph.D. in Family Studies in 2024. Her doctoral research focused on the resilience of the family unit during wrongful incarcerations and the reintegration process. Currently, Monique serves on the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.

Margaret Pfeil is a theological ethicist who teaches courses in Catholic social teaching, nonviolence, and integral ecology. She also co-directs the Catholic Social Tradition Minor at the University of Notre Dame. She is a co-founder of the Saint Peter Claver Catholic Worker in South Bend and its apostolate, Our Lady of the Road. With her husband, Biff Weidman, she is active in Bridgefolk, the Mennonite/Catholic ecumenical movement.

Sylvester J. Schieber has a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Notre Dame. He has spent much of his career consulting with private and public sector organizations on retirement and health issues. He has also done extensive research and writing on policy issues related to these matters. He was appointed to the 1994 Social Security Advisory Council by the Clinton Administration. He served on the U.S. Social Security Advisory Board from 1998 to 2009. He was appointed Chairman by President George W. Bush and served in that position for his last three years on the board. His book, The Predictable Surprise: The Unravelling of the U.S. Retirement System, published in 2012, was awarded the 2012 TIAA-CREF Paul A. Samuelson Award for outstanding scholarly writing on lifelong financial security. Vicki and Syl Schieber’s daughter, Shannon, was murdered in 1998. When Philadelphia’s district attorney publicly announced her intention to pursue the death penalty for the assailant when he was captured, Vicki and Syl waged a successful campaign against pursuing capital punishment in the case. Since that experience, they have worked in public forums across the United States for the elimination of the death penalty in this country. They have also published book chapters and magazine articles calling for its abolition.

This series is co-sponsored by Catholic Mobilizing Network

Catholic Mobilizing Network (CNM) is a national organization that mobilizes Catholics and all people of goodwill to value life over death, to end the use of the death penalty, to transform the U.S. criminal legal system from punitive to restorative, and to build capacity in U.S. society to engage in restorative practices. Through education, advocacy, and prayer, and based on the Gospel value that every human is created in the image and likeness of God, CMN expresses the fundamental belief that all those who have caused or been impacted by crime should be treated with dignity.