For more than 30 years 1 of the most vocal and effective campaigners against capital punishment in the U.S. has been a Roman Catholic nun from New Orleans.
But until 1993 few people in the general public had ever heard of Sister Helen Prejean. That changed when she wrote a book called Dead Man Walking, which was later made into a highly acclaimed movie.
Leveraging her newfound influence, Prejean pushed forward with her campaign against the death penalty. She helped establish the Moratorium Campaign, and she started a group to counsel families of murder victims.
One major part of her effort has been to prevent executions of innocent defendants, who frequently are swept up in a dizzying array of legal technicalities that overlook their humanity.
In 2004 Prejean wrote a second book, called The Death of Innocents, drawing on the stories of two men she counseled who were executed despite what she believed was their innocence.
She and I talked about that book in 2005, the first time we had met since 1993.
So here now, from 2005, sister Helen Prejean.
Sister Helen Prejean Is 86 now. Based in New Orleans she continues to travel the country campaigning against the death penalty.
