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| Sr. Helen Prejean |
More than 2 decades after she served as spiritual adviser to a killer sentenced to die in Louisiana's electric chair, which served as the basis for her book, 'Dead Man Walking' and the Oscar-winning movie of the same title, Sister Helen Prejean is still on the same mission.
That mission, which began after she first engaged a convicted murderer as a pen pal, is continuing to counsel death row inmates -- and pushing for an end to capital punishment.
This week, she's speaking in Colorado, a state she hopes may soon follow the lead of Oregon, where Gov. John Kitzhaber recently announced a moratorium on state executions.
"There's only one execution in the last 30 years and only three people on death row [in Colorado," Prejean said during an exclusive interview with FOX31 Denver on Wednesday. "So you have to ask yourself: what's going on here?"
Prejean says the death penalty remains on the books in many states, even those where it's rarely carried out, because of the "symbolism" it affords politicians -- and the "false promise" it offers relatives of victims.
"It's symbolism for the one running for office to convey they're going to be tough on crime," Prejean said. "And that's an illusory promise to make to families, so few of whom actually see a death penalty case carried out.
"That's a cruel promise to make to people that by watching the state kill that they can be healed from their hurt."
For years, Prejean's argument against the death penalty has been a moral one. But, more recently, as states continue to struggle with bloated budgets, she's been speaking more about the economic costs.
"Colorado has this machinery of death, but it's sitting in the garage not being used," she said. "And it still costs the state millions of dollars because of the money it costs to pay for all these appeals.
"Those resources need to be spent on life, not on death," she continued. "They need to be spent on police officers, at-risk children, health care -- all the crunches coming down on the state."
Prejean, who wrote a 2nd book about 2 death row inmates she accompanied to their executions and her belief in their innocence, also argues that the finality of the punishment offers no way to rectify the potential execution of the innocent.
"We have known 138 cases of people who were wrongly convicted and taken off of death row," she said. "So the guilty are in with the innocent, that's for sure."
In Colorado, lawmakers last attempted to abolish the state's death penalty in 2009, when a bill that would have directed revenue saved by doing so to investigate cold cases died on the final day of the legislative session.
In light of the recent execution of Troy Davis in Georgia, which galvanized the country in light on ongoing questions about his innocence, and the recent moratorium in Oregon, it's possible a bill to repeal the death penalty could be introduced in 2012.
The biggest obstacle to its passage would likely be state Rep. Rhonda Fields, the mother of a murdered son -- the two convicted killers of Javad Marshall Fields and Vivian Wolfe account for two of the three inmates on Colorado's death row.
Her mere presence and the power of her story carry more weight than her one vote. And she's told FOX31 that repealing the death penalty "would be a slap in [her] face."
Ultimately, if such a bill were to pass the House and Senate, it would be up to Gov. John Hickenlooper to sign it.
Asked for a comment Wednesday, Hickenlooper's spokesman offered little indication as to what the governor would do in such a situation.
"This is not an issue that the Governor takes lightly," said spokesman Eric Brown. "Most governors struggle with the enormity of the decision."
Source: Associated Press, December 1, 2011
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