When I first heard of this speaker I pictured an old-fasion style nun with long black robes. So, when I arrived I was surprised by how everyday she appeared. I also expected her to be talking about the process of turning her movie into the book because we had brought that up in class. So, as you can imagine, this lecture turned out very different from my expectations. Sister Helen Prejean is an advocate for the abolition of the death penalty and she travels the country and talks about her views and experiences. I found Sister Helen Prejean to be a very engaging storyteller and I was amazed with how steady her voice stayed when she talked about the horrible things she has seen and that the people she worked with have done.
Sister Prejean began working with death row inmates when she was asked to write a letter to Patrick Sonnier at Angola Prizon. She first only talked about it from the side of Sonnier and it was tear jerking when she described how hard it was to walk him to his execution. I had never thought much about the death penalty before but when she described the experience I became very opposed to the practice. When she began to describe the victims and families affected though, I wasn’t sure how to feel.
I know that the government shouldn’t have the power to take a life but when she described in detail what Sonnier did it’s hard for me to justify allowing him to live. I don’t want to go into what he did because it was hard for me to listen to but he raped and killed a couple. One of the kids families wanted the death penalty invoked but the other did not. The parents that did not want the death penalty said they felt immense pressure to advocate for Sonnier’s death. People would say things like “If you don’t get him killed than you didn’t really love your son.”
I can’t even imagine myself in a similar position but if I were I’m not sure how I’d want them to be punished. I know I would feel so much hate towards the criminal that I would want them dead but at the same time does advocating for someone’s death make you just as bad as them?
Sister Helen Prejean was a fantastic speaker but I did not leave the room totally convinced of her point of left the room with more confusion than I had come in with. I don’t think there is a right or wrong answer but I’m glad that New York doesn’t have the death penalty. That way I don’t feel an immediate need to figure out how I feel about the issue.