Sister Helen Prejean
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Sister Helen Prejean |
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| Activist and Author of Dead Man Walking: An Eyewitness Account of the Death Penalty in the United States In her book, Dead Man Walking: An Eyewitness Account of the Death Penalty in the United States, Sister Helen Prejean takes us deep within our death penalty system and begs us to answer the question: how can our society benefit by replicating the violence it condemns? A Roman Catholic nun, Sister Helen Prejean's mission to end capital punishment began with a letter. In 1982, she began writing to Louisiana death row inmate Pat Sonnier, and it began a relationship that ended December 28, 1984, with his execution in the state's electric chair. While counseling Sonnier, she began an intense study of the issue of the death penalty, and discovered one of the most bleak and disturbing facets of American society. She found that ours is a chaotic justice system in which violence is a solution to violence; racism ignored; the poor disposable. She came to believe that capital punishment is a military solution to a social problem, and therefore no solution at all. She has been a spiritual counselor to many death row inmates and has also witnessed execution of some of those same men; if America did the same, her work would be over - only out of sight, she knows, can the death penalty survive. There are few issues as complex and emotionally gripping as capital punishment. Yet Helen Prejean will take you on an intimate journey into the lives of both the murderers and the murdered victim's families; she confronts the issue from both sides, and while you may or may not agree with her, you will find her work transcends old familiar debates and approaches the subject with exceptional moral clarity, compassion, and courage. |