A Reflection on Sr. Helen Prejean and the Death Penalty
This Monday, Georgetown hosted an event with Sr. Helen Prejean as part of the Faith and Culture series. Sr. Helen is the author of the book Dead Man Walking, which inspired a movie of the same name that is a regular feature for Right to Life movie nights, so it was very exciting to have the chance to see her in person.
The death penalty is an issue that our club tends not to talk about as much, although we are very much against it. I think that the death penalty is often ignored, with even activists preferring to focus on issues with more sympathetic victims. However, the fact that people have committed crimes shouldn’t mean that they no longer have rights. Sr. Helen put it best when she stated that every human being is worth more than the worst act of their life. No one can be defined by one action and there is inherent worth in even the worst criminals. The death penalty is sometimes defended as being necessary to defend society, but as Sr. Helen painted a picture for the audience of the executions she has witnessed, it is clear that people on death row have been subdued even before their lives are ended.
Sr. Helen also discussed the importance of promoting human rights throughout life, saying that the pro-life movement gets so caught up in when life begins and ends, people lose sight of what happens in between. Her message aligns perfectly with our theme for this year, “pro-life for all life”, and is a statement that I completely agree with it. When most people hear the phrase pro-life, they only think of abortion. This isn’t without merit, as many politicians who claim to be pro-life and fight against abortion will then turn around and deny the human dignity of others. Counter to this, Sr. Helen talked about many different social justice issues that intersect with her work. In addition to denying prisoners the right to life, the death penalty disproportionately impacts poor people of color. She spoke about her experience learning about institutional racism and how that lead her to her current activism. She also discussed other problems with the prison system and the way it serves as a continuation of segregation and slavery, showing that even if the death penalty is abolished, more work will need to be done to promote the rights of people in prisons. Overall, Sr. Helen demonstrated how pro-life issues are intrinsically connected with a broader focus on social justice.
Jennie Wenzel, NHS ’19
