And America is not more just

… because Teresa Lewis was executed. It does not appear to anyone that she was falsely accused of plotting murder; it does not appear to anyone that her crimes were not abhorrent and heinous. But the death penalty does not bring justice; it exacts revenge.

Jesus taught us to go beyond the lex talionis; we are taught that grace and mercy can bring restorative justice. How? The imprisoned can work until they die and their work can bring good to society.

In a Western world where we are about the only country with the death penalty, we stand alone as those who don’t see that life imprisonment and restorative justice are a more just design. In what ways are we a better society because of the death penalty and because of the execution of Teresa Lewis?

Jarratt, Virginia (CNN) — Teresa Lewis, called the mastermind in the murder-for-hire deaths of her husband and stepson, was executed Thursday night, Virginia Department of Corrections officials said.

Lewis, who was given a lethal injection, was pronounced dead at 9:13 p.m. ET at Greensville Correctional Center in Jarratt.

Death penalty opponents argued that Lewis, a 41-year-old grandmother, should not have died for a 2002 conspiracy that spared two triggermen a capital sentence. Instead they got life without parole.

Lewis was the first woman executed in Virginia in nearly a century.

The victims’ family members witnessed the execution, state Department of Corrections spokesman Larry Traylor said.

News media witnesses said Lewis appeared frightened when she entered the death chamber and approached the gurney.

Asked if she had last words, Lewis said, “I just want Kathy to know I love her. And I am very sorry.”

The inmate was referring to her stepdaughter, witness Kathy Clifton, daughter of murder victim Julian Lewis and sister of victim C.J. Lewis.