Sister Helen Prejean
As a nun serving the poor population of New Orleans, Sister Helen Prejean began her prison ministry in 1981.
She became pen pals with a man convicted of murdering two teenagers and served as his spiritual advisor.
She turned her experiences into an award-winning book, "Dead Man Walking: An Eyewitness Account of the Death Penalty in the United States."
The book was adapted into an Oscar-nominated movie in 1995 by director Tim Robbins. An opera
version of the book opened at the San Francisco Opera in October 2000.
A noted death penalty abolitionist, Prejean headed the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty from 1993 to 1995.
She now serves as the Honorary Chairperson of Moratorium 2000, a group gathering petitions to halt the
death penalty worldwide. Prejean has received numerous awards for her work and is a three-time Nobel Peace Prize nominee.
"The death penalty is a poor person's issue," Prejean said at a speech in Albany, N.Y., in 1995.
"After all the rhetoric that goes on in the legislative assemblies, in the end, when the deck is cast out, it is the poor who are selected to die in this country."
- Helen Prejean, C.S.J.: Report from the Front
Read bimonthly reports from Prejean as she travels across the country on her mission to stop the death penalty.
The site also provides a biography and related Prejean links.
- Moratorium 2000
Learn about the U.N. petition to abolish the death penalty.
- Sister Helen Prejean's Keynote Address
Read a transcript or listen to an audio recording of Prejean's speech at the National Meeting of the
Dying in Prisons and Jails. "When somebody is executed, they're fully alive," Prejean said. "There's not a disease.
They're being put to death against their will. It's an act of violence."
- PBS Frontline
Read a transcript of Prejean's interview with Frontline for the "Angel on Death Row" series.
- Dead Man Walking
Learn more about the movie starring Sean Penn and Susan Sarandon, who won the Best Actress Oscar for
her performance.
- GovSpot Issues: The Death Penalty
Explore both sides of this important issue.
- Sisters of St. Joseph of Medaille
Prejean belongs to this Louisiana religious community.
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