Sister Helen Prejean

Sister Helen Prejean’s lecture focused mainly on the American legal system and more specifically, on the death penalty for convicted murderers. To help the audience understand her points, she related the story of one death row inmate named Patrick, and how he came to be on death row. It was Patrick’s execution that prompted her to start this ministry across the nation, calling for an end to the death penalty in the courts. A few of her main points were that the death penalty does not help either the convict nor the victims and their families, that it actually causes more harm than good, and that the death penalty is inherently racist. While here arguments are not watertight, her lecture did help us learn more about the American legal system and how the victims react with the entire process.

            One of the most fascinating aspects of her lecture was when she spoke of her encounters with various families of murder victims and their view on the whole scenario. I found it enlightening that for some families, the legal system actually brings more frustration and turmoil to their lives than it does solace. Due to the inherent nature of murder cases, both the attorneys and prosecutors will pull out all of the stops and attempt nearly every legal strategy to win their case, which will almost always result in incredibly long and drawn out court cases. It harms the victim since he or she will be constantly unsure of whether or not he or she will lose and face a life sentence or the death penalty. It harms the victim’s families in that they’re constantly told that winning the case and watching the murderer be executed will bring them peace, but the actual court process just makes their lives worse. Sister Helen Prejean’s lecture brought us more insight into the actual lives of the victim’s families and convict about to face the death penalty. She allowed us to see more of the legal system than what is just on paper.

            I actually do not see how much of what Sister Helen Prejean spoke of relates to our class since our class focuses more on the religions common to the city of New Orleans. I feel that her lecture would be more apropos to a class on morality or ethics, or to a law course. The fact that Patrick was born-again and found God could tie in to our course, but the main lecture actually had little to do with religion. As for whether or not I liked the lecture, I would have to say that there were some aspects of her lecture that didn’t agree with me. Her talk did present new information and a new way of looking at the death penalty, but I still found fault with some of her arguments. I also couldn’t shake the thought that, since her work began wither relationship with Patrick and then having to see him die, what if she saw Patrick and his partner murder the children instead. Would her view on the death penalty be different in that case? Ultimately, I did enjoy her lecture and wish her the best of luck in her endeavors.