Sister Helen Prejean – Why She Opposes The Death Penalty and The Invisible Victims on Execution Day

Sister Helen Prejean – Why She Opposes The Death Penalty

Sister Helen Prejean is well known for her book Dead Man Walking: An Eyewitness Account of the Death Penalty in the United States and the movie of the same name. She is also the author of a second book, The Death of Innocents: An Eyewitness Account of Wrongful Executions. Since she started writing to Patrick Sonnier in 1982 while he was on Death Row and witnessed his execution in 1984 she has worked tirelessly to abolish that form of punishment. A lot has happened in the last 30 years plus, public sentiment has been slowly swinging against the death penalty and executions have been diminishing across the county. Although just around half of the states still have the death penalty on their books only a few are still executing people with any regularity.

Host Craig Lubow got the opportunity to sit down and talk with Sister Helen Prejean about her journey from privileged young white woman to death penalty activist. She will explain how she became aware of the problems in the prosecution and administration of the death penalty.

The Invisible Victims on Execution Day

Murder is one of the most emotionally and politically charged acts possible in this country. When a murder happens we learn a lot about the perpetrator and what they did. We sometimes learn a little bit about the victim and the loss their family feels. What we never hear about is anguish and shame felt by the family of the perpetrator. While the family of the victim did nothing to deserve the catastrophe that has befallen in all but a very few cases the same can be said of the family of the perpetrator.

Host Jeff Humfeld talks with Linda Taylor whose brother was murdered in Oakland, California in 1983, a murder that has never been solved and son Micheal who was executed earlier this year by the state of Missouri. We will find out what impact her brother’s murder had on her family and coming to grips with the fact your loved one had committed such a crime and what toll the years of incarceration and finally the execution took on her family, as well as Micheal’s change in prison.


Share This Episode