Acclaimed author speaks of injustice
by Michael Grillo
News | 3/28/06
Posted online at 10:19 AM EST on 3/28/06
The author of Dead Man Walking concluded a day-long discussion of capital punishment and flaws in the criminal justice system with a speech to over 500 people in the Spingold Theater last Wednesday. Sister Helen Prejean talked about her experiences with death row inmates during the "Day of Innocence" event sponsored by the University's Institute for Investigative Journalism and the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.
Sister Prejean, a Roman Catholic nun from N ew Orleans, has worked as a spiritual adviser to death-row inmates since the 1980s and has become a significant figure in the movement to abolish the death penalty. She wrote Dead Man Walking in 1993, which was later adapted into the Academy Award-winning movie starring Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn.
At Spingold, Sister Prejean talked about her new book The Death of Innocents, which discusses wrongful convictions and executions. After her speech, she answered questions from students and autographed copies of the book.
Sister Prejean spoke at length about the plight of the poor in America's major urban areas and how poverty makes violent criminals more susceptible to capital punishment. She said this is especially true in her home state of Louisiana, where the vast majority of death-row inmates are poor.
"There's a saying around the neighborhood that those without the capital get the punishment," she said.
She also said many Americans are not close to understanding the death penalty because the process is hidden away from sight; most executions take place in the middle of the night behind closed doors. She said her goal in writing Dead Man Walking was to "wake people up" to these issues.
Sister Prejean acknowledged that our society believes the death penalty is how we attain justice for the families of murder victims, but our government believes capital punishment should be used only when dealing with the most atrocious murders.
"Whose death isn't the worst of the worst?" she asked.
Sister Prejean, a Roman Catholic nun from N ew Orleans, has worked as a spiritual adviser to death-row inmates since the 1980s and has become a significant figure in the movement to abolish the death penalty. She wrote Dead Man Walking in 1993, which was later adapted into the Academy Award-winning movie starring Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn.
At Spingold, Sister Prejean talked about her new book The Death of Innocents, which discusses wrongful convictions and executions. After her speech, she answered questions from students and autographed copies of the book.
Sister Prejean spoke at length about the plight of the poor in America's major urban areas and how poverty makes violent criminals more susceptible to capital punishment. She said this is especially true in her home state of Louisiana, where the vast majority of death-row inmates are poor.
"There's a saying around the neighborhood that those without the capital get the punishment," she said.
She also said many Americans are not close to understanding the death penalty because the process is hidden away from sight; most executions take place in the middle of the night behind closed doors. She said her goal in writing Dead Man Walking was to "wake people up" to these issues.
Sister Prejean acknowledged that our society believes the death penalty is how we attain justice for the families of murder victims, but our government believes capital punishment should be used only when dealing with the most atrocious murders.
"Whose death isn't the worst of the worst?" she asked.
