The pace of executions may be picking up in Florida. Governor Rick Scott has signed five death warrants so far this year, including three in the last month.
That prompted the state's Catholic bishops to write Scott on Wednesday, urging him to commute the three men's sentences.
Florida Catholic Conference Director Michael McCarron said no one disputes the death penalty is flawed.
"Prudence calls for us to be careful about how we are going to carry out these death sentences", said McCarron. "I think that anytime you begin to escalate this process, you run that risk, so it needs to be done very carefully."
McCarron has already urged Scott to veto a bill that would speed up the post-conviction part of the death penalty process.
He said the risk of executing an innocent person is too great, noting Florida leads the nation in the number of death sentences overturned.