-
1 of 10
-
2 of 10
-
3 of 10
-
4 of 10
-
5 of 10
-
6 of 10
-
7 of 10
-
8 of 10
-
9 of 10
-
10 of 10
Death penalty adversary speaks at Boise State
Archive
Comments
Story
“Worldwide we are moving toward a population that does not accept the death penalty,” said Sister Helen Prejean, a Catholic nun and author of “Dead Man Walking: An Eyewitness Account of the Death Penalty in the United States.”
Prejean spoke at Boise State last Friday about her opposition to the death penalty.
She became interested in the issue in 1982 when she began visiting Patrick Sonnier, a death row inmate, in Louisiana’s Angola Prison.
Prejean soon became Sonnier’s spiritual advisor, worked vigorously to prevent his execution and eventually walked him to the electric chair.
“It changed the spiritual trajectory of my life,” Prejean said.
Random House published her book “Dead Man Walking” in 1993.
It became a best seller, was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize and laid the groundwork for an Oscar-winning film.
“What we need is lawyers who stand up for people’s rights,” Prejean said. “We don’t need anymore corporate attorneys who help rich people get richer.”
The loud applause that followed confirmed that Prejean’s “southern storytelling” won over the audience Friday evening.
“Sister Helen believes that life is absolutely sacred from beginning to end,” Director of the Idaho Innocence Project at Boise State and forensic biologist professor Greg Hampikian said.
“As a DNA expert, I work to free the innocent,” Hampikian said.
“When they give the execution in the chamber, the hand is hidden.”
The event was sponsored by the American Civil Liberties Union of Idaho and the Boise State Department of Social Work.
Jack Van Valkenburgh, executive director of the ACLU, said he was excited to see so many young people attend the speech.
The Idaho Department of Correction currently uses a combination of three chemicals in its lethal injection process, one of which anesthetizes the person before the other two are introduced to the body.
“We have tried to mask death so we don’t look like we’re killing
people,” Prejean said.
Idaho currently has 19 death row inmates, 18 men and one woman.
Only one execution took place in Idaho since the death penalty was reinstated over two decades ago.
Convicted murderer Keith Eugene Wells was put to death by lethal injection in 1994 after giving up all appeals and demanding execution.
“By the time a person is executed, he is just a package that is moved, because he has already died a thousand deaths,” Prejean said.
JENNY MCBRIDE
News Writer