Syl Schieber ’72 M.A., ’74 Ph.D., and his wife, Vicki, have made a generous gift to support Notre Dame Law School’s Death Penalty Abolition Week. Their contribution will help ensure that the event continues in the future.
In March 2025, the Notre Dame Law School Exoneration Justice Clinic (EJC) and the Klau Institute for Civil and Human Rights organized the inaugural Death Penalty Abolition Week, a four-day series of events that examined the realities of wrongful convictions and sparked critical conversations about the use of capital punishment. Distinguished speakers—including exonerees, advocates, and experts in criminal justice reform—shared firsthand accounts and discussed systemic issues tied to wrongful convictions and capital punishment, including racial bias against defendants of color and the fundamental violation of human dignity inherent in the death penalty.
Schieber was among the featured speakers, sharing a powerful testimony grounded in faith, forgiveness, and justice. After his 23-year-old daughter, Shannon, was raped and murdered in 1998, Schieber and his wife made the decision to oppose capital punishment for her killer. Guided by their Catholic faith and belief in the sanctity of human life, the Schiebers have since become prominent voices in the national movement to abolish the death penalty.
Through their generous donation to fund Death Penalty Abolition Week at Notre Dame Law School, the Schiebers demonstrate their dedication to faith, forgiveness, and the ongoing fight to abolish the death penalty.
Originally published by at law.nd.edu on September 22, 2025.