Lance Martin, Herald Senior Staff Writer

TODD WETHERINGTON | DAILY HERALD From left, Debbie Biesack, Roberta Mothershead, Scott Bass, Dave Biesack and Ellen Biesack join together in a brief prayer behind St. John the Baptist Church on Hamilton Street this morning. The group is walking from Raleigh to Washington, D.C. in an effort to raise awareness about issues surrounding the death penalty. Advertisement

ROANOKE RAPIDS - Scott Bass used to be in favor of the death penalty until he saw its effects on families - the families of the victims and the families of those on death row.

Both families become ostracized, Bass said this morning as he and five other death penalty opponents continued their march to Washington, D.C. on what is called “The Pilgrimage of Remembrance: Making Strides Towards Abolition and Reconciliation.”

The 300-mile walk will end at the U.S. Supreme Court. The group spent the night at the parish house of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church Thursday and were expected to approach the century mark of the walk today.

“We're asking people to remember murder victims and the people on death row. I work closely with both groups,” Bass said this morning.

Bass says it's difficult to say what a perfect punishment is. “I don't think we need to be putting people to death because we don't want to risk executing innocent people.”

Life sentences are the answer, he said, because study after study shows it is more expensive going through capital trials and their appeals as well as the execution itself than it is for seeking a life sentence.

Dave Biesack has been a death penalty opponent for several years. His wife, Debbie, is the chairperson for People of Faith Against the Death Penalty.

One of the things the group is trying to educate people about is the state's proposed Racial Justice Act, which seeks to ensure fairness when it comes to the death penalty.

The 300-mile walk, which began in Raleigh at Central Prison, where the state's executions are carried out, has had mixed reactions, Biesack said.

“Many people are very supportive,” he said.

In Warren County, he met a retired corrections officer who was in favor of the death penalty. They agreed to disagree, he said, but in the end the former officer offered the walkers water and had a long discussion with them.

“It opens up dialogue,” he said. “What we're doing is hard on the feet, but it's not hard on the soul.”