Sister Helen Prejean’s Fight Against the Death Penalty
When you accompany someone to the execution, everything becomes very crystallized, distilled, and stripped to the essentials. You are in this building in the middle of the night, and all these people are organized to kill this man. And the gospel comes to you as it never has before: Are you for compassion, or are you for violence? Are you for mercy, or are you for vengeance? Are you for love, or are you for hate? Are you for life, or are you for death?
I don’t see capital punishment as a peripheral issue about some criminals at the edge of society that people want to execute. I see the death penalty connected to the three deepest wounds of our society: racism, poverty, and violence.
Sister Helen Prejean [from: Would Jesus Pull The Switch]
Sister Helen Prejean was born on April 21, 1939, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She joined the Sisters of St. Joseph of Medaille in 1957. Sister Helen began her prison ministry in 1981 when she dedicated her life to the poor of New Orleans. While living in the St. Thomas housing project, she became pen pals with Patrick Sonnier, the convicted killer of two teenagers, sentenced to die in the electric chair of Louisiana’s Angola State Prison.
I cannot believe in a God who metes out hurt for hurt, pain for pain, torture for torture. Nor do I believe that God invests human representatives with such power to torture and kill. The paths of history are stained with the blood of those who have fallen victim to "God’s Avengers." Kings, popes, military generals, and heads of state have killed, claiming God’s authority and God’s blessing. I do not believe in such a God.
Upon Sonnier’s request, Sister Helen repeatedly visited him as his spiritual advisor. In doing so, her eyes were opened to the Louisiana execution process. Sister Helen turned her experiences into a book that not only made the 1994 American Library Associates Notable Book List, it was also nominated for a 1993 Pulitzer Prize. Dead Man Walking: An Eyewitness Account of the Death Penalty in the United States was number one on the New York Times Best Seller List for 31 weeks. It also was an international best seller and has been translated into ten different languages.
But here’s the real reason why I got involved with death-row inmates: I got involved with poor people. It took me a while to wake up to the call of the social gospel of Jesus. For years and years when I came to the passages where Jesus identified with poor and marginated people I did some fast-footed mental editing of the scriptures: poor meant "spiritually poor."
When I read in Matthew 25, "I was hungry and you gave me to eat," I would say, "Oh, there’s a lot of ways of being hungry." "I was in prison, and you came to visit me,"x97"Oh, there’s a lot of ways we live in prison, you know."
In January 1996, the book was developed into a major motion picture "Dead Man Walking" starring Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn. The movie received four Oscar nominations including Tim Robbins for Best Director, Sean Penn for Best Actor, Susan Sarandon for Best Actress, and Bruce Springsteen’s "Dead Man Walking" for Best Song. Susan Sarandon won the award for Best Actress.
I made a bad mistake. When I found out about Patrick Sonnier’s crimex97that he had killed two teenage kidsx97I didn’t go to see the victims’ families. I stayed away because I wasn’t sure how to deal with such raw, unadulterated pain. I was a coward.
Here were two sets of parents whose children had been ripped from them. I felt terrible. I was powerless to assuage their grief. It would take me a long time to learn how to help victims’ families, a long time before I would sit at their support-group meetings and hear their unspeakable stories of loss and grief and rage and guilt.
I would learn that the divorce rate for couples who lose a child is over 70 percentx97a sad new twist to "until death do us part." I would learn that often after a murder friends stay away because they don’t know how to respond to the pain.
In his last words, Patrick Sonnier expressed his sorrow to the victims’ family. But then he said to the warden and to the unseen executioner behind the plywood panel, "but killing me is wrong, too."
Sources, and more info at: Sister Helen Prejean’s website, the articles Would Jesus Pull The Switch, and Sister Helen Prejean: The Real Woman Behind Dead Man’s Walking
Via: LifePrints - Good News for a More Compassionate World – thanks, Lisa for sharing this!
22 February 2008 at 19:28
Ellen,
I’m so happy that you saw my post and expanded on it. Sister Prejean’s work is so important.
You and I are more often than not on the same wavelength, my friend.
Peace,
Lisa
22 February 2008 at 21:02
Hi Lisa,
thanks again for make me aware of her work. I truly enjoyed writing this post, Sister Helen Perjean’s work and writing are profoundly touching and thought-provoking..
Peace to you too,
Ellen
23 February 2008 at 02:27
Sr. Prejean’s Death Penalty Disinformation
Dudley Sharp, Justice Matters
I. Dead Family Walking: The Bourque Family Story of Dead Man Walking , by D. D. deVinci, Goldlamp Publishing, 2006
” . . .makes you realize the Dead Man Walking truly belongs on the shelf in the library in the Fiction category.”
“Being devout Catholics, ‘the norm’ would be to look to the church for support and healing. Again, this need for spiritual stability was stolen by Sister Prejean.”
The book alleges whole cloth fabrications by Sister Prejean within her book “Dead Man Walking”.
“On November 5, 1977, the Bourque’s teenage daughter, Loretta, was found murdered in a trash pile near the city of New Iberia, Louisiana lying side by side near her boyfriendxe2x80x93with three well-placed bullet holes behind each head. ”
www(dot)deadfamilywalking.com/
contact T.J. Edler, 337-967-0840, infogoldlamp(at)aol.com
II. The Victims of Dead Man Walking
by Michael L. Varnado, Daniel P. Smith
comment — A very different story than that written by Sister Helen Prejean. Detective Varnado was the investigating officer in the murder of Faith Hathaway. 2003
III. Death Of Truth: Sister Prejean’s new book Death Of Innocents
For some years, there has existed a consistent pattern, from death penalty opponents, to declare certain death row inmates to be actually innocent. Those claims have, consistently, been 70-83% in error. (“ALL INNOCENCE ISSUES — THE DEATH PENALTY”)
Keep that in mind with “Death of Innocents”.
Readers should be very careful, as they have no way of knowing if any of the fact issues in either of the two cases, as presented by Sister Prejean, are true. Readers would have to conduct their own thorough, independent examination to make that determination. You can start here.
Four articles
(a) “FOR GOOD REASON, JOE O’DELL IS ON DEATH ROW”
scholar(DOT)lib.vt.edu/VA-news/VA-Pilot/issues/1995/vp950728/07210224.htm
quote: “The DNA report commissioned by O’Dell and his lawyers actually corroborates O’Dell’s guilt. There is a three-probe DNA match indicating that the bloodstains on O’Dell’s clothing is indeed consistent with the victim Helen Schartner’s DNA as well as her blood type and enzyme factors.” “There is certainly no truth to O’Dell’s accusation that evidence was suppressed or witnesses intimidated by the prosecution.”
(b) “Sabine district attorney disputes author’s claims in book”
www(DOT)shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050124/NEWS01/501240328/1060
quote: “I don’t know whether she is deliberately trying to mislead the public or if she’s being mislead by others. But she’s wrong,”
District Atty. Burkett, dburkett(AT)cp-tel.net
(c) Book Review: “Sister Prejean’s Lack of Credibility: Review of “The Death of Innocents”, by Thomas M. McKenna (New Oxford Review, 12/05).
“The book is moreover riddled with factual errors and misrepresentations.”
“Williams had confessed to repeatedly stabbing his victim, Sonya Knippers.”
“This DNA test was performed by an independent lab in Dallas, which concluded that there was a one in nearly four billion chance that the blood could have been someone’s other than Williams’s.”
” . . . despite repeated claims that (Prejean) cares about crime victims, implies that the victim’s husband was a more likely suspect but was overlooked because the authorities wanted to convict a black man.”
” . . . a Federal District Court . . . stated that ‘the evidence against Williams was overwhelming.’ ” “The same court also did “not find any evidence of racial bias specific to this case.”
“(Prejean’s) broad brush strokes paint individual jurors, prosecutors, and judges with the term “racist” with no facts, no evidence, and, in most cases, without so much as having spoken with the people she accuses.”
“Sr. Prejean also claims that Dobie Williams was mentally retarded. But the same federal judge who thought he deserved a new sentencing hearing also upheld the finding of the state Sanity Commission report on Williams, which concluded that he had a “low-average I.Q.,” and did not suffer from schizophrenia or other major affective disorders. Indeed, Williams’s own expert at trial concluded that Williams’s intelligence fell within the “normal” range. Prejean mentions none of these facts.”
“In addition to lying to the police about how he came to have blood on his clothes, the best evidence of O’Dell’s guilt was that Schartner’s (the rape/murder vicitim’s) blood was on his jacket. Testing showed that only three of every thousand people share the same blood characteristics as Schartner. Also, a cellmate of O’Dell’s testified that O’Dell told him he killed Schartner because she would not have sex with him.”
“After the trial, LifeCodes, a DNA lab that O’Dell himself praised as having “an impeccable reputation,” tested the blood on O’Dell’s jacket — and found that it was a genetic match to Schartner. When the results were not to his liking, O’Dell, and of course Sr. Prejean, attacked the reliability of the lab O’Dell had earlier praised. Again, as with Williams’s conviction, the federal court reviewing the case characterized the evidence against O’Dell as ‘vast’ and
‘overwhelming.’ ”
Sr. Prejean again sees nefarious forces at work. Not racism this time, for O’Dell was white. Rather, she charges that the prosecutors were motivated to convict by desire for advancement and judgeships. Yet she never contacted the prosecutors to interview them or anyone who might substantiate such a charge.
“(Prejean) omits the most damning portion of (O’Dell’s criminal) record: an abduction charge in Florida where O’Dell struck the victim on the head with a gun and told her that he was going to rape her. This very similar crime helped the jury conclude that O’Dell would be a future threat to society. It supports the other evidence of his guilt and thus undermines Prejean’s claim of innocence.”
“There is thus a moral equivalence for Prejean between the family of an innocent victim and the newfound girlfriend of a convicted rapist and murderer.”
“This curious definition of “the victims” suggests that her concern for “victims” seems to be more window-dressing for her cause than true concern.”
(d) Hardly The Death Of Innocents: Sister Prejean tells it like it wasn’t — Joseph O’Dell
by Anonymous, at author’s request
In lionizing convicted murderer Joseph O’Dell as being an innocent man railroaded to his 1997 execution by Virginia prosecutors, Sister Helen Prejean presents a skewed summary of the case to bolster her anti-death penalty agenda. While she is a gifted speaker, she is out of her element when it comes to “telling it as it was” in these cases.
Prejean got to walk with O’Dell into the death chamber at Greensville Correctional Center on July 22, 1997. However, she wasn’t in Virginia Beach some 12 years earlier when he committed the crime for which he was arrested, convicted and sentenced to death. That is where the real demon was evident, not the sweet talking condemned con-man that she met behind bars. O’Dell was, in the words of then Virginia Beach Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Albert Alberi (case prosecutor), one of the most savage, dangerous criminals he had encountered in a two decade career.
Indeed,O’Dell had spent most of his adult life incarcerated for various crimes since the age of 13 in the mid-1950′s. At the time of the Schartner murder in Virginia, O’Dell had been recently paroled from Florida where he had been serving a 99 year sentence for a 1976 Jacksonville abduction that almost ended in a murder of the female victim (had not police arrived) in the back of his car.
The circumstances of that crime were almost identical to those surrounding Schartner’s murder. The victim of the Florida case even showed up in Virginia to testify at the trial. Scarcely a mention of this case is made in the Prejean book.
Briefly, let me outline some of the facts about the case: Victim Helen Schartner’s blood was found on the passenger seat of Joseph O’Dell’s vehicle. Tire tracks matching those on O’Dell’s vehicle were found at the scene where Miss Schartner’s body was found. The tire tread design on O’Dell’s vehicle wheels were so unique, an expert in tire design couldn’t match them in a manual of thousands of other tire treads. The seminal fluids found on the victim’s body matched those of Mr. O’Dell and pubic hairs of the victim were found on the floor of his car.
The claims that O’Dell was “denied” his opportunity to present new DNA evidence on appeals were frivolous. In fact, he had every opportunity to come forward with this evidence, but his lawyers refused to reveal to the court the full findings of the tests which they had arranged to be done on a shirt with blood stains, which O’Dell’s counsel claimed might show did not have the blood marks from the defendant or the victim.
Manipulative defense lawyer tactics were overlooked by Prejean in her narrative. O’Dell was far from a victim of poor counsel. As matter of fact, the city of Virginia Beach and state government gave O’Dell an estimated $100,000 for his defense team at trial. This unprecedented amount nearly bankrupted the entire indigent defense fund for the state. He had great lawyers, expert forensic investigators and every point at the trial was contested two to five times.
There was no “rush to justice” in this case.
O’Dell’s alibi for the night of Schartner’s murder was that he had gotten thrown out of the bar where he encountered Schartner following a brawl. However, none of the several dozen individuals supported his contention – there weren’t any fights that night. Rather, several saw Miss Schartner getting into O’Dell’s car on what would be her last ride.
But Prejean would want us to believe the claims of felon Joseph O’Dell.He had three trips to the United States Supreme Court and the “procedural error” which Prejean claims ultimately doomed him was the result of simple ignorance of basic appeals rules by his lawyers.
Nothing in the record ever suggested that Joseph O’Dell, two time killer and rapist, was anything but guilty of the murder of Helen Schartner.
Justice was properly served.
IV. Sister Helen Prejean on the death penalty
“It is abundantly clear that the Bible depicts murder as a capital crime for which death is considered the appropriate punishment, and one is hard pressed to find a biblical xe2x80x98proof textxe2x80x99 in either the Hebrew Testament or the New Testament which unequivocally refutes this. Even Jesusxe2x80x99 admonition xe2x80x98Let him without sin cast the first stone,xe2x80x99 when He was asked the appropriate punishment for an adulteress (John 8:7) – the Mosaic Law prescribed death – should be read in its proper context. This passage is an xe2x80x98entrapmentxe2x80x99 story, which sought to show Jesusxe2x80x99 wisdom in besting His adversaries. It is not an ethical pronouncement about capital punishment .xe2x80x9d Sister Helen Prejean, Dead Man Walking.
The sisterxe2x80x99s analysis is consistent with much theological scholarship. Also, much scholarship questions the authenticity of John 8:7.
From here, the sister states that xe2x80x9c . . . more and more I find myself steering away from such futile discussions (of Biblical text). Instead, I try to articulate what I personally believe . . . xe2x80x9d The sister has never shied away from any argument, futile or otherwise, which opposed the death penalty. She has abandoned biblical text for only one reason: the text conflicts with her personal beliefs.
Sister Prejean rightly cautions: “Many people sift through the Scriptures and select truth according to their own templates.” (Progressive, 1/96). Sadly, Sister Prejean appears to do much worse. The sister now uses that very same biblical text xe2x80x9cLet the one who is without sin cast the first stonexe2x80x9d as proof of Jesusxe2x80x99 xe2x80x9cunequivocalxe2x80x9d rejection of capital punishment as xe2x80x9crevenge and unholy retributionxe2x80x9d! (see Sister Prejeanxe2x80x99s 12/12/96 fundraising letter on behalf of the Saga Of Shame book project for Quixote Center/Equal Justice USA)
V. Redemption and the death penalty
The movie Dead Man Walking reveals a perfect example of how just punishment and redemption can work together. Had rapist/murderer Matthew Poncelet not been properly sentenced to death by the civil authority, he would not have met Sister Prejean, he would not have received spiritual instruction, he would not have taken responsibility for his crimes and he would not have reconciled with God. Had Poncelet never been caught or had he only been given a prison sentence, his character makes it VERY clear that those elements would not have come together. Indeed, for the entire film and up until those last moments, prior to his execution, Poncelet was not truthful with Sister Prejean. His lying and manipulative nature was fully exposed at that crucial time. It was not at all surprising, then, that it was just prior to his execution that all of the spiritual elements may have come together for his salvation. It was now, or never. Truly, just as St. Aquinas stated, it was Poncelet’s pending execution which may have led to his repentance. For Christians, the most crucial concerns of Dead Man Walking must be and are redemption and eternal salvation. And, for that reason, it may well be, for Christians, the most important pro-death penalty movie ever made.
A real life example of this may be the case of Dennis Gentry, executed April 16, 1997, for the premeditated murder of his friend Jimmy Don Ham. During his final statement, Gentry said, “Ixe2x80x99d like to thank the Lord for the past 14 years (on death row) to grow as a man and mature enough to accept whatxe2x80x99s happening here tonight. To my family, Ixe2x80x99m happy. Ixe2x80x99m going home to Jesus.” As the lethal drugs began to flow, Gentry cried out, “Sweet Jesus, here I come. Take me home. Ixe2x80x99m going that way to see the Lord.” (Michael Gracyk, Associated Press, Houston Chronicle, 4/17/97). We cannot know if Gentry or the fictitious Poncelet or the two real murderers from the DMW book really did repent and receive salvation.
But, we do know that St. Aquinas advises us that murderers should not be given the benefit of the doubt. We should err on the side of caution and not give murderers the opportunity to harm again.
“The fact that the evil, as long as they live, can be corrected from their errors does not prohibit the fact that they may be justly executed, for the danger which threatens from their way of life is greater and more certain than the good which may be expected from their improvement. They also have at that critical point of death the opportunity to be converted to God through repentance. And if they are so stubborn that even at the point of death their heart does not draw back from evil, it is possible to make a highly probable judgement that they would never come away from evil to the right use of their powers.” St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Contra Gentiles, Book III, 146.
VI. On God and the death penalty
It is not uncommon for persons of faith to create a god in their own image, to give to that god their values, instead of accepting those values which are inherent to the deity. For example, death penalty opponent Sister Helen Prejean (Dead Man Walking) states, in reference to the death penalty, that “I couldnxe2x80x99t worship a god who is less compassionate than I am.”(Progressive, 1/96). She has, thereby, established her standard of compassion as the basis for Godxe2x80x99s being deserving of her devotion. If Godxe2x80x99s level of compassion does not rise to the level of her own, God couldnxe2x80x99t receive her worship. Director Tim Robbins (Death Man Walking) follows that same path: “(I) donxe2x80x99t believe in that kind of (g)od (that would support capital punishment and, therefore, would be the kind of god who tortures people into their redemption).” (“Opposing The Death Penalty”, AMERICA, 11/9/96, p 12). Robbins, hereby, establishes his standard for his Godxe2x80x99s deserving of his belief. Godxe2x80x99s standards do not seem to be relevant. His sophomoric comparison of capital punishment and torture is typical of the ignorance in this debate and such comments reflect no biblical relevancy. Perhaps they should review Matthew 5:17-22 and 15:1-9. Be cautious, for as the ancient rabbis warned, “Do not seek to be more righteous than your creator.” (Ecclesiastes Rabbah 7.33)
——————————————————————-
Detective Varnado writes: “For those who believe in the teachings of Sister Helen Prejean as her journey continues in her effort to abolish the death penalty. ‘For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And, no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. 2 Corinthians 11:13 & 14′ ” — From Detective Varnado’s new book Soft Targets; A Women’s Guide To Survival
———————————————————————
Dudley Sharp, Justice Matters
e-mail sharpjfa(AT)aol.com, 713-622-5491,
Houston, Texas
Mr. Sharp has appeared on ABC, BBC, CBS, CNN, C-Span, Court TV, FOX, NBC, NPR, PBS and many other TV and radio networks, on such programs as Nightline, The News Hour with Jim Lehrer, The O’Reilly Factor, etc., has been quoted in newspapers throughout the world and is a published author.
A former opponent of capital punishment, he has written and granted interviews about, testified on and debated the subject of the death penalty, extensively and internationally.
Pro death penalty sites
homicidesurvivors(dot)com/categories/Dudley%20Sharp%20-%20Justice%20Matters.aspx
www(dot)dpinfo.com
www(dot)cjlf.org/deathpenalty/DPinformation.htm
www(dot)clarkprosecutor.org/html/links/dplinks.htm
joshmarquis(dot)blogspot.com/
www(dot)lexingtonprosecutor.com/death_penalty_debate.htm
www(dot)prodeathpenalty.com
www(dot)yesdeathpenalty.com/deathpenalty_contents.htm (Sweden)
Permission for distribution of this document is approved as long as it is distributed in its entirety, without changes, inclusive of this statement.
23 February 2008 at 02:27
Sr. Prejean’s Death Penalty Disinformation
Dudley Sharp, Justice Matters
I. Dead Family Walking: The Bourque Family Story of Dead Man Walking , by D. D. deVinci, Goldlamp Publishing, 2006
” . . .makes you realize the Dead Man Walking truly belongs on the shelf in the library in the Fiction category.”
“Being devout Catholics, ‘the norm’ would be to look to the church for support and healing. Again, this need for spiritual stability was stolen by Sister Prejean.”
The book alleges whole cloth fabrications by Sister Prejean within her book “Dead Man Walking”.
“On November 5, 1977, the Bourque’s teenage daughter, Loretta, was found murdered in a trash pile near the city of New Iberia, Louisiana lying side by side near her boyfriendx96with three well-placed bullet holes behind each head. ”
www(dot)deadfamilywalking.com/
contact T.J. Edler, 337-967-0840, infogoldlamp(at)aol.com
II. The Victims of Dead Man Walking
by Michael L. Varnado, Daniel P. Smith
comment — A very different story than that written by Sister Helen Prejean. Detective Varnado was the investigating officer in the murder of Faith Hathaway. 2003
III. Death Of Truth: Sister Prejean’s new book Death Of Innocents
For some years, there has existed a consistent pattern, from death penalty opponents, to declare certain death row inmates to be actually innocent. Those claims have, consistently, been 70-83% in error. (“ALL INNOCENCE ISSUES — THE DEATH PENALTY”)
Keep that in mind with “Death of Innocents”.
Readers should be very careful, as they have no way of knowing if any of the fact issues in either of the two cases, as presented by Sister Prejean, are true. Readers would have to conduct their own thorough, independent examination to make that determination. You can start here.
Four articles
(a) “FOR GOOD REASON, JOE O’DELL IS ON DEATH ROW”
scholar(DOT)lib.vt.edu/VA-news/VA-Pilot/issues/1995/vp950728/07210224.htm
quote: “The DNA report commissioned by O’Dell and his lawyers actually corroborates O’Dell’s guilt. There is a three-probe DNA match indicating that the bloodstains on O’Dell’s clothing is indeed consistent with the victim Helen Schartner’s DNA as well as her blood type and enzyme factors.” “There is certainly no truth to O’Dell’s accusation that evidence was suppressed or witnesses intimidated by the prosecution.”
(b) “Sabine district attorney disputes author’s claims in book”
www(DOT)shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050124/NEWS01/501240328/1060
quote: “I don’t know whether she is deliberately trying to mislead the public or if she’s being mislead by others. But she’s wrong,”
District Atty. Burkett, dburkett(AT)cp-tel.net
(c) Book Review: “Sister Prejean’s Lack of Credibility: Review of “The Death of Innocents”, by Thomas M. McKenna (New Oxford Review, 12/05).
“The book is moreover riddled with factual errors and misrepresentations.”
“Williams had confessed to repeatedly stabbing his victim, Sonya Knippers.”
“This DNA test was performed by an independent lab in Dallas, which concluded that there was a one in nearly four billion chance that the blood could have been someone’s other than Williams’s.”
” . . . despite repeated claims that (Prejean) cares about crime victims, implies that the victim’s husband was a more likely suspect but was overlooked because the authorities wanted to convict a black man.”
” . . . a Federal District Court . . . stated that ‘the evidence against Williams was overwhelming.’ ” “The same court also did “not find any evidence of racial bias specific to this case.”
“(Prejean’s) broad brush strokes paint individual jurors, prosecutors, and judges with the term “racist” with no facts, no evidence, and, in most cases, without so much as having spoken with the people she accuses.”
“Sr. Prejean also claims that Dobie Williams was mentally retarded. But the same federal judge who thought he deserved a new sentencing hearing also upheld the finding of the state Sanity Commission report on Williams, which concluded that he had a “low-average I.Q.,” and did not suffer from schizophrenia or other major affective disorders. Indeed, Williams’s own expert at trial concluded that Williams’s intelligence fell within the “normal” range. Prejean mentions none of these facts.”
“In addition to lying to the police about how he came to have blood on his clothes, the best evidence of O’Dell’s guilt was that Schartner’s (the rape/murder vicitim’s) blood was on his jacket. Testing showed that only three of every thousand people share the same blood characteristics as Schartner. Also, a cellmate of O’Dell’s testified that O’Dell told him he killed Schartner because she would not have sex with him.”
“After the trial, LifeCodes, a DNA lab that O’Dell himself praised as having “an impeccable reputation,” tested the blood on O’Dell’s jacket — and found that it was a genetic match to Schartner. When the results were not to his liking, O’Dell, and of course Sr. Prejean, attacked the reliability of the lab O’Dell had earlier praised. Again, as with Williams’s conviction, the federal court reviewing the case characterized the evidence against O’Dell as ‘vast’ and
‘overwhelming.’ ”
Sr. Prejean again sees nefarious forces at work. Not racism this time, for O’Dell was white. Rather, she charges that the prosecutors were motivated to convict by desire for advancement and judgeships. Yet she never contacted the prosecutors to interview them or anyone who might substantiate such a charge.
“(Prejean) omits the most damning portion of (O’Dell’s criminal) record: an abduction charge in Florida where O’Dell struck the victim on the head with a gun and told her that he was going to rape her. This very similar crime helped the jury conclude that O’Dell would be a future threat to society. It supports the other evidence of his guilt and thus undermines Prejean’s claim of innocence.”
“There is thus a moral equivalence for Prejean between the family of an innocent victim and the newfound girlfriend of a convicted rapist and murderer.”
“This curious definition of “the victims” suggests that her concern for “victims” seems to be more window-dressing for her cause than true concern.”
(d) Hardly The Death Of Innocents: Sister Prejean tells it like it wasn’t — Joseph O’Dell
by Anonymous, at author’s request
In lionizing convicted murderer Joseph O’Dell as being an innocent man railroaded to his 1997 execution by Virginia prosecutors, Sister Helen Prejean presents a skewed summary of the case to bolster her anti-death penalty agenda. While she is a gifted speaker, she is out of her element when it comes to “telling it as it was” in these cases.
Prejean got to walk with O’Dell into the death chamber at Greensville Correctional Center on July 22, 1997. However, she wasn’t in Virginia Beach some 12 years earlier when he committed the crime for which he was arrested, convicted and sentenced to death. That is where the real demon was evident, not the sweet talking condemned con-man that she met behind bars. O’Dell was, in the words of then Virginia Beach Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Albert Alberi (case prosecutor), one of the most savage, dangerous criminals he had encountered in a two decade career.
Indeed,O’Dell had spent most of his adult life incarcerated for various crimes since the age of 13 in the mid-1950′s. At the time of the Schartner murder in Virginia, O’Dell had been recently paroled from Florida where he had been serving a 99 year sentence for a 1976 Jacksonville abduction that almost ended in a murder of the female victim (had not police arrived) in the back of his car.
The circumstances of that crime were almost identical to those surrounding Schartner’s murder. The victim of the Florida case even showed up in Virginia to testify at the trial. Scarcely a mention of this case is made in the Prejean book.
Briefly, let me outline some of the facts about the case: Victim Helen Schartner’s blood was found on the passenger seat of Joseph O’Dell’s vehicle. Tire tracks matching those on O’Dell’s vehicle were found at the scene where Miss Schartner’s body was found. The tire tread design on O’Dell’s vehicle wheels were so unique, an expert in tire design couldn’t match them in a manual of thousands of other tire treads. The seminal fluids found on the victim’s body matched those of Mr. O’Dell and pubic hairs of the victim were found on the floor of his car.
The claims that O’Dell was “denied” his opportunity to present new DNA evidence on appeals were frivolous. In fact, he had every opportunity to come forward with this evidence, but his lawyers refused to reveal to the court the full findings of the tests which they had arranged to be done on a shirt with blood stains, which O’Dell’s counsel claimed might show did not have the blood marks from the defendant or the victim.
Manipulative defense lawyer tactics were overlooked by Prejean in her narrative. O’Dell was far from a victim of poor counsel. As matter of fact, the city of Virginia Beach and state government gave O’Dell an estimated $100,000 for his defense team at trial. This unprecedented amount nearly bankrupted the entire indigent defense fund for the state. He had great lawyers, expert forensic investigators and every point at the trial was contested two to five times.
There was no “rush to justice” in this case.
O’Dell’s alibi for the night of Schartner’s murder was that he had gotten thrown out of the bar where he encountered Schartner following a brawl. However, none of the several dozen individuals supported his contention – there weren’t any fights that night. Rather, several saw Miss Schartner getting into O’Dell’s car on what would be her last ride.
But Prejean would want us to believe the claims of felon Joseph O’Dell.He had three trips to the United States Supreme Court and the “procedural error” which Prejean claims ultimately doomed him was the result of simple ignorance of basic appeals rules by his lawyers.
Nothing in the record ever suggested that Joseph O’Dell, two time killer and rapist, was anything but guilty of the murder of Helen Schartner.
Justice was properly served.
IV. Sister Helen Prejean on the death penalty
“It is abundantly clear that the Bible depicts murder as a capital crime for which death is considered the appropriate punishment, and one is hard pressed to find a biblical x91proof textx92 in either the Hebrew Testament or the New Testament which unequivocally refutes this. Even Jesusx92 admonition x91Let him without sin cast the first stone,x92 when He was asked the appropriate punishment for an adulteress (John 8:7) – the Mosaic Law prescribed death – should be read in its proper context. This passage is an x91entrapmentx92 story, which sought to show Jesusx92 wisdom in besting His adversaries. It is not an ethical pronouncement about capital punishment .x94 Sister Helen Prejean, Dead Man Walking.
The sisterx92s analysis is consistent with much theological scholarship. Also, much scholarship questions the authenticity of John 8:7.
From here, the sister states that x93 . . . more and more I find myself steering away from such futile discussions (of Biblical text). Instead, I try to articulate what I personally believe . . . x94 The sister has never shied away from any argument, futile or otherwise, which opposed the death penalty. She has abandoned biblical text for only one reason: the text conflicts with her personal beliefs.
Sister Prejean rightly cautions: “Many people sift through the Scriptures and select truth according to their own templates.” (Progressive, 1/96). Sadly, Sister Prejean appears to do much worse. The sister now uses that very same biblical text x93Let the one who is without sin cast the first stonex94 as proof of Jesusx92 x93unequivocalx94 rejection of capital punishment as x93revenge and unholy retributionx94! (see Sister Prejeanx92s 12/12/96 fundraising letter on behalf of the Saga Of Shame book project for Quixote Center/Equal Justice USA)
V. Redemption and the death penalty
The movie Dead Man Walking reveals a perfect example of how just punishment and redemption can work together. Had rapist/murderer Matthew Poncelet not been properly sentenced to death by the civil authority, he would not have met Sister Prejean, he would not have received spiritual instruction, he would not have taken responsibility for his crimes and he would not have reconciled with God. Had Poncelet never been caught or had he only been given a prison sentence, his character makes it VERY clear that those elements would not have come together. Indeed, for the entire film and up until those last moments, prior to his execution, Poncelet was not truthful with Sister Prejean. His lying and manipulative nature was fully exposed at that crucial time. It was not at all surprising, then, that it was just prior to his execution that all of the spiritual elements may have come together for his salvation. It was now, or never. Truly, just as St. Aquinas stated, it was Poncelet’s pending execution which may have led to his repentance. For Christians, the most crucial concerns of Dead Man Walking must be and are redemption and eternal salvation. And, for that reason, it may well be, for Christians, the most important pro-death penalty movie ever made.
A real life example of this may be the case of Dennis Gentry, executed April 16, 1997, for the premeditated murder of his friend Jimmy Don Ham. During his final statement, Gentry said, “Ix92d like to thank the Lord for the past 14 years (on death row) to grow as a man and mature enough to accept whatx92s happening here tonight. To my family, Ix92m happy. Ix92m going home to Jesus.” As the lethal drugs began to flow, Gentry cried out, “Sweet Jesus, here I come. Take me home. Ix92m going that way to see the Lord.” (Michael Gracyk, Associated Press, Houston Chronicle, 4/17/97). We cannot know if Gentry or the fictitious Poncelet or the two real murderers from the DMW book really did repent and receive salvation.
But, we do know that St. Aquinas advises us that murderers should not be given the benefit of the doubt. We should err on the side of caution and not give murderers the opportunity to harm again.
“The fact that the evil, as long as they live, can be corrected from their errors does not prohibit the fact that they may be justly executed, for the danger which threatens from their way of life is greater and more certain than the good which may be expected from their improvement. They also have at that critical point of death the opportunity to be converted to God through repentance. And if they are so stubborn that even at the point of death their heart does not draw back from evil, it is possible to make a highly probable judgement that they would never come away from evil to the right use of their powers.” St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Contra Gentiles, Book III, 146.
VI. On God and the death penalty
It is not uncommon for persons of faith to create a god in their own image, to give to that god their values, instead of accepting those values which are inherent to the deity. For example, death penalty opponent Sister Helen Prejean (Dead Man Walking) states, in reference to the death penalty, that “I couldnx92t worship a god who is less compassionate than I am.”(Progressive, 1/96). She has, thereby, established her standard of compassion as the basis for Godx92s being deserving of her devotion. If Godx92s level of compassion does not rise to the level of her own, God couldnx92t receive her worship. Director Tim Robbins (Death Man Walking) follows that same path: “(I) donx92t believe in that kind of (g)od (that would support capital punishment and, therefore, would be the kind of god who tortures people into their redemption).” (“Opposing The Death Penalty”, AMERICA, 11/9/96, p 12). Robbins, hereby, establishes his standard for his Godx92s deserving of his belief. Godx92s standards do not seem to be relevant. His sophomoric comparison of capital punishment and torture is typical of the ignorance in this debate and such comments reflect no biblical relevancy. Perhaps they should review Matthew 5:17-22 and 15:1-9. Be cautious, for as the ancient rabbis warned, “Do not seek to be more righteous than your creator.” (Ecclesiastes Rabbah 7.33)
——————————————————————-
Detective Varnado writes: “For those who believe in the teachings of Sister Helen Prejean as her journey continues in her effort to abolish the death penalty. ‘For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And, no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. 2 Corinthians 11:13 & 14′ ” — From Detective Varnado’s new book Soft Targets; A Women’s Guide To Survival
———————————————————————
Dudley Sharp, Justice Matters
e-mail sharpjfa(AT)aol.com, 713-622-5491,
Houston, Texas
Mr. Sharp has appeared on ABC, BBC, CBS, CNN, C-Span, Court TV, FOX, NBC, NPR, PBS and many other TV and radio networks, on such programs as Nightline, The News Hour with Jim Lehrer, The O’Reilly Factor, etc., has been quoted in newspapers throughout the world and is a published author.
A former opponent of capital punishment, he has written and granted interviews about, testified on and debated the subject of the death penalty, extensively and internationally.
Pro death penalty sites
homicidesurvivors(dot)com/categories/Dudley%20Sharp%20-%20Justice%20Matters.aspx
www(dot)dpinfo.com
www(dot)cjlf.org/deathpenalty/DPinformation.htm
www(dot)clarkprosecutor.org/html/links/dplinks.htm
joshmarquis(dot)blogspot.com/
www(dot)lexingtonprosecutor.com/death_penalty_debate.htm
www(dot)prodeathpenalty.com
www(dot)yesdeathpenalty.com/deathpenalty_contents.htm (Sweden)
Permission for distribution of this document is approved as long as it is distributed in its entirety, without changes, inclusive of this statement.
23 February 2008 at 03:27
Hello Ellen,
What a lovely soul Sister Helen is. Just think the way our justice system is how many innocent lives were taken also. I am very liberal and am not for killing others. Or torture as the USA back up in the name of the war in terrorism but that is another issue.
Have a lovely weekend. I enjoy reading your beautiful and positive posts.
~Blessings
23 February 2008 at 06:31
Ellen, This post hits a topic near and dear to my heart. I am not in favor of the death penalty and for the exact same reasons that the Sister raises. It just seems so obvious to me, yet I realize that I am in a minority (in this country, anyway).
I had a poll on my blog awhile back about this topic–whether one can be pro-life and believe in the death penalty. Unfortunately, the majority of people felt that capital punishment was justified in certain circumstances.
Thank you for sharing this.
23 February 2008 at 12:15
The Death Penalty: Saving Innocents
Dudley Sharp, Justice Matters, contact below
Often, the death penalty dialogue gravitates to the subject of innocents at risk of execution. Seldom is a more common problem reviewed. That is, how innocents are more at risk without the death penalty.
xc2xa0
Living murderers, in prison, after release or escape or after our failures toxc2xa0incarcerate them, are much more likely to harm and murder, again, than are executed murderers.
xc2xa0
This is a truism.
xc2xa0
No knowledgeable and honest party questions that the death penalty has the most extensive due process protections in US criminal law.
Therefore, actual innocents are more likely to be sentenced toxc2xa0life imprisonmentxc2xa0and more likely to die in prison serving under that sentence, that it is that an actual innocent will be executed.
xc2xa0
That is. logically, conclusive.
xc2xa0
16 recent studies, inclusive of their defenses,xc2xa0 find for death penalty deterrence.
xc2xa0
A surprise? No.
Life is preferred over death. Death is feared more than life.
xc2xa0
Somexc2xa0believe that all studies with contrary findings negate those 16 studies. They don’t.xc2xa0Studies which don’t find for deterrence don’t say no one is deterred, but that they couldn’t measure those deterred.
xc2xa0
What prospect of a negative outcome doesn’t deter some? There isn’t one . . . although committed anti death penalty folk may say the death penalty is the only one.
xc2xa0
However, the premier anti death penalty scholar accepts it as a given that the death penalty is a deterrent, but does not believe it to be a greater deterrent than a life sentence. Yet, the evidence is xc2xa0compelling and un refuted xc2xa0that death is feared more than life.
“This evidence greatly unsettles moral objections to the death penalty, because it suggests that a refusal to impose that penalty condemns numerous innocent people to death.” (1)
xc2xa0
” . . . a serious commitment to the sanctity of human life may well compel, rather than forbid, (capital) punishment.” (1)
“Recent evidence suggests that capital punishment may have a significant deterrent effect, preventing as many as eighteen or more murders for each execution.” (1)
xc2xa0
Some death penalty opponents argue against death penalty deterrence, stating that it’s a harsher penalty to be locked up without any possibility of getting out.
xc2xa0
Reality paints a very different picture.
xc2xa0
What percentage ofxc2xa0capital murderers seek a plea bargain to a death sentence? Zero or close to it. They prefer long term imprisonment.
xc2xa0
What percentage of convicted capitalxc2xa0murderers argue for execution in the penalty phase of their capital trial? Zero or close to it. They prefer long term imprisonment.
xc2xa0
What percentage of death row inmates waive their appeals and speed up the execution process? Nearly zero. They prefer long term imprisonment.
xc2xa0
This is not, even remotely, in dispute.
xc2xa0
Life is preferred over death. Death is feared more than life.
xc2xa0
Furthermore, history tells us that “lifers” have many ways to get out: Pardon, commutation, escape, clerical error, change in the law, etc.
In choosing to end the death penalty, or in choosing not implement it, some havexc2xa0chosen toxc2xa0spare murderers at the cost of sacrificing more innocent lives.
xc2xa0
——–
xc2xa0
Furthermore, possibly we have sentenced 20-25 actually innocent people to death since 1973, or 0.3% of those so sentenced. Those have all been released upon post conviction review. The anti death penalty claims, that the numbers are significantly higher,xc2xa0are a fraud, easily discoverable by fact checking.
6 inmates have been released from death row because of DNA evidence.
The innocents deception of death penalty opponents has been getting exposure for many years. Even the behemoth of anti death penalty newspapers — The New York Times — has recognized that deception.
“To be sure, 30 or 40 categorically innocent people have been released from death row . . . “. ‘ (2) This when death penalty opponents were claiming the release of 119 “innocents” from death row. Death penalty opponents never required actual innocence in order for cases to be added to their “exonerated” or “innocents” list. They simply invented their own definitions for exonerated and innocent and deceptively shoe horned large numbers of inmates into those definitions – something easily discovered with fact checking.
There is no proof of an innocent executed in the US, at least since 1900.
If we accept that the best predictor of future performance is past performance, we can reasonable conclude that the DNA cases will be excluded prior to trial, and that for the next 8000 death sentences, that we will experience a 99.8% accuracy rate in actual guilt convictions. This improved accuracy rate does not include the many additional safeguards that have been added to the system, over and above DNA testing.
Of all the government programs in the world, that put innocents at risk, is there one with a safer record and with greater protectionsxc2xa0than the US death penalty?
xc2xa0
Unlikely.
xc2xa0
———————–
Full report -xc2xa0 All Innocence Issues: The Death Penalty, upon request.
Full report – The Death Penalty as a Deterrent, upon request
xc2xa0
(1) From the Executive Summary of
Is Capital Punishment Morally Required? The Relevance of Life-Life Tradeoffs, March 2005
Prof. Cass R. Sunstein,xc2xa0xc2xa0 Cass_Sunstein(AT)law.uchicago.edu
xc2xa0Prof. Adrian Vermeule ,xc2xa0xc2xa0 avermeule(AT)law.harvard.edu
Full reportxc2xa0xc2xa0xc2xa0xc2xa0xc2xa0xc2xa0xc2xa0xc2xa0xc2xa0xc2xa0 http://aei-brookings.org/admin/authorpdfs/page.php?id=1131
xc2xa0
(2) “The Death of Innocents’: A Reasonable Doubt”,
New York Times Book Review, p 29, 1/23/05, Adam Liptak,
national legal correspondent for The NY Times
—————————–
Dudley Sharp, Justice Matters
e-mailxc2xa0 sharpjfa@aol.com,xc2xa0 713-622-5491,
Houston, Texas
xc2xa0
Mr. Sharp has appeared on ABC, CBS, CNN, FOX, NBC, NPR, PBS, BBCxc2xa0and many other TV and radio networks, on such programs as Nightline, The News Hour with Jim Lehrer, The O’Reilly Factor, etc., has been quoted in newspapers throughout the world and is a published author.
xc2xa0
Axc2xa0former opponent of capital punishment, he has written and granted interviews about, testified on and debated the subject of the death penalty, extensively and internationally.
xc2xa0
Pro death penalty sitesxc2xa0
homicidesurvivors(dot)com/categories/Dudley%20Sharp%20-%20Justice%20Matters.aspx
www(dot)dpinfo.com
www(dot)cjlf.org/deathpenalty/DPinformation.htm
www(dot)clarkprosecutor.org/html/links/dplinks.htm
joshmarquis(dot)blogspot.com/
www(dot)lexingtonprosecutor.com/death_penalty_debate.htm
www(dot)prodeathpenalty.com
www(dot)yesdeathpenalty.com/deathpenalty_contents.htmxc2xa0 (Sweden)
Permission for distribution of this document is approved as long as it is distributed in its entirety, without changes, inclusive of this statement.
23 February 2008 at 12:15
The Death Penalty: Saving Innocents
Dudley Sharp, Justice Matters, contact below
Often, the death penalty dialogue gravitates to the subject of innocents at risk of execution. Seldom is a more common problem reviewed. That is, how innocents are more at risk without the death penalty.
xa0
Living murderers, in prison, after release or escape or after our failures toxa0incarcerate them, are much more likely to harm and murder, again, than are executed murderers.
xa0
This is a truism.
xa0
No knowledgeable and honest party questions that the death penalty has the most extensive due process protections in US criminal law.
Therefore, actual innocents are more likely to be sentenced toxa0life imprisonmentxa0and more likely to die in prison serving under that sentence, that it is that an actual innocent will be executed.
xa0
That is. logically, conclusive.
xa0
16 recent studies, inclusive of their defenses,xa0 find for death penalty deterrence.
xa0
A surprise? No.
Life is preferred over death. Death is feared more than life.
xa0
Somexa0believe that all studies with contrary findings negate those 16 studies. They don’t.xa0Studies which don’t find for deterrence don’t say no one is deterred, but that they couldn’t measure those deterred.
xa0
What prospect of a negative outcome doesn’t deter some? There isn’t one . . . although committed anti death penalty folk may say the death penalty is the only one.
xa0
However, the premier anti death penalty scholar accepts it as a given that the death penalty is a deterrent, but does not believe it to be a greater deterrent than a life sentence. Yet, the evidence is xa0compelling and un refuted xa0that death is feared more than life.
“This evidence greatly unsettles moral objections to the death penalty, because it suggests that a refusal to impose that penalty condemns numerous innocent people to death.” (1)
xa0
” . . . a serious commitment to the sanctity of human life may well compel, rather than forbid, (capital) punishment.” (1)
“Recent evidence suggests that capital punishment may have a significant deterrent effect, preventing as many as eighteen or more murders for each execution.” (1)
xa0
Some death penalty opponents argue against death penalty deterrence, stating that it’s a harsher penalty to be locked up without any possibility of getting out.
xa0
Reality paints a very different picture.
xa0
What percentage ofxa0capital murderers seek a plea bargain to a death sentence? Zero or close to it. They prefer long term imprisonment.
xa0
What percentage of convicted capitalxa0murderers argue for execution in the penalty phase of their capital trial? Zero or close to it. They prefer long term imprisonment.
xa0
What percentage of death row inmates waive their appeals and speed up the execution process? Nearly zero. They prefer long term imprisonment.
xa0
This is not, even remotely, in dispute.
xa0
Life is preferred over death. Death is feared more than life.
xa0
Furthermore, history tells us that “lifers” have many ways to get out: Pardon, commutation, escape, clerical error, change in the law, etc.
In choosing to end the death penalty, or in choosing not implement it, some havexa0chosen toxa0spare murderers at the cost of sacrificing more innocent lives.
xa0
——–
xa0
Furthermore, possibly we have sentenced 20-25 actually innocent people to death since 1973, or 0.3% of those so sentenced. Those have all been released upon post conviction review. The anti death penalty claims, that the numbers are significantly higher,xa0are a fraud, easily discoverable by fact checking.
6 inmates have been released from death row because of DNA evidence.
The innocents deception of death penalty opponents has been getting exposure for many years. Even the behemoth of anti death penalty newspapers — The New York Times — has recognized that deception.
“To be sure, 30 or 40 categorically innocent people have been released from death row . . . “. ‘ (2) This when death penalty opponents were claiming the release of 119 “innocents” from death row. Death penalty opponents never required actual innocence in order for cases to be added to their “exonerated” or “innocents” list. They simply invented their own definitions for exonerated and innocent and deceptively shoe horned large numbers of inmates into those definitions – something easily discovered with fact checking.
There is no proof of an innocent executed in the US, at least since 1900.
If we accept that the best predictor of future performance is past performance, we can reasonable conclude that the DNA cases will be excluded prior to trial, and that for the next 8000 death sentences, that we will experience a 99.8% accuracy rate in actual guilt convictions. This improved accuracy rate does not include the many additional safeguards that have been added to the system, over and above DNA testing.
Of all the government programs in the world, that put innocents at risk, is there one with a safer record and with greater protectionsxa0than the US death penalty?
xa0
Unlikely.
xa0
———————–
Full report -xa0 All Innocence Issues: The Death Penalty, upon request.
Full report – The Death Penalty as a Deterrent, upon request
xa0
(1) From the Executive Summary of
Is Capital Punishment Morally Required? The Relevance of Life-Life Tradeoffs, March 2005
Prof. Cass R. Sunstein,xa0xa0 Cass_Sunstein(AT)law.uchicago.edu
xa0Prof. Adrian Vermeule ,xa0xa0 avermeule(AT)law.harvard.edu
Full reportxa0xa0xa0xa0xa0xa0xa0xa0xa0xa0 http://aei-brookings.org/admin/authorpdfs/page.php?id=1131
xa0
(2) “The Death of Innocents’: A Reasonable Doubt”,
New York Times Book Review, p 29, 1/23/05, Adam Liptak,
national legal correspondent for The NY Times
—————————–
Dudley Sharp, Justice Matters
e-mailxa0 sharpjfa@aol.com,xa0 713-622-5491,
Houston, Texas
xa0
Mr. Sharp has appeared on ABC, CBS, CNN, FOX, NBC, NPR, PBS, BBCxa0and many other TV and radio networks, on such programs as Nightline, The News Hour with Jim Lehrer, The O’Reilly Factor, etc., has been quoted in newspapers throughout the world and is a published author.
xa0
Axa0former opponent of capital punishment, he has written and granted interviews about, testified on and debated the subject of the death penalty, extensively and internationally.
xa0
Pro death penalty sitesxa0
homicidesurvivors(dot)com/categories/Dudley%20Sharp%20-%20Justice%20Matters.aspx
www(dot)dpinfo.com
www(dot)cjlf.org/deathpenalty/DPinformation.htm
www(dot)clarkprosecutor.org/html/links/dplinks.htm
joshmarquis(dot)blogspot.com/
www(dot)lexingtonprosecutor.com/death_penalty_debate.htm
www(dot)prodeathpenalty.com
www(dot)yesdeathpenalty.com/deathpenalty_contents.htmxa0 (Sweden)
Permission for distribution of this document is approved as long as it is distributed in its entirety, without changes, inclusive of this statement.
23 February 2008 at 13:17
Titania and Barbara,
thanks so much for your positive reactions. Since this subject, especially feelings of compassion, is very dear to me, your reactions are of great value to me!
Blessings to you,
Ellen
23 February 2008 at 13:34
Dear mister Sharp,
I would like to thank you for your elaborate reactions. I very much welcome different view points, leading to a fruitful discussion on this blog. I do believe your reactions are an educated, open point of view in favor of the death penalty.
Your reactions have made me realise that my post does not sufficiently portray my intentions of posting it.
It was not in any way meant to discuss the guilt or innocence of the inmates involved. I’m not in any position (nor do I wish to be) to have a say on that. Furthermore, it was not my intention to judge any religious believes or convictions.
I was and am touched by Sister Helen’s feelings of compassion, her altruism towards people that have (or may have) committed such crimes. However, I deliberately also used her own words to depict the feelings of the families whose loved ones were taken. I could honestly not predict what my own reaction and/or feelings would be if any harm was done to my own loved ones. I can only hope to be able to tap into such feelings of compassion.
I sincerely believe that the issue of the death penalty has many, many pro’s and con’s, and a definite stand is hard to take without seeing the dangers of each side.
I do however strongly believe that taking a ‘life for a life’ is not the right way. That in the end, compassion will bring the human race more than vengeance.
That is, not even touching the subject that there never, never is a absolute zero possibility that any of the convicted inmates is in fact innocent.
Again, I thank you for sharing your view on this issue. With that, I do believe this issue has been addressed in a more balanced way.
Ellen
23 February 2008 at 15:59
This post brought about much thought. I did see Dead Man Walking. That movie was on my mind for many days after watching it.It touched me profoundly.
As you stated, there are many pros and cons to the death penalty and many individual views.
Is there a right or wrong way to believe? I can’t answer that…it’s a personal belief.
Thank you Ellen for sharing…
Many Blessings~
24 February 2008 at 14:14
I am sorry, but in my view there is not a single valid “pro” to the death penalty… I strongly feel that we should refuse to accept any reason why a human being should be killed.
24 February 2008 at 15:21
Hi Andrea,
thanks for your reaction (and your thoughtful advice on your blog!).
I agree with you, this is a very difficult discussion, with personal views that have a tendency to take a black or white stand.
Respecting each other’s view point is the only way to come to fruitful discussions on this subject.
Many blessings to you,
Ellen
24 February 2008 at 15:33
Hi Jos,
as you, as I tried to express, I believe taking the life of another person is never an option. In no circumstance whatsoever.
I posted on Sister Helen’s Fight because I deeply admire her struggle, and her continuous strong drive for compassion. Compassion instead of vengeance will, in any circumstance, lead to a better world. For all parties involved, I’d like to add.
I can however respect other people’s believes as valid to them! As Andrea stated, those viewpoints are personal.
I strongly believe that in respecting each other’s viewpoints, the path is paved towards fruitful discussions.
My warmest wishes to you,
Ellen
24 February 2008 at 16:32
Ellen, it is my personal opinion, and one that I strongly believe in. Of course everybody is entitled to his or her own opinion. On this topic, mine is that there is never a valid ‘pro’ to killing a human being, for whatever reason. Other people may feel different about that. I know. There are still 76 countries that apply the death penalty.
13 March 2008 at 19:21
Ellen,
Thank you for your kind reply.
It is important to read the first two books from my first post.
I used to be opposed to capital punsiment, but changed my view over a number of years.
The death penalty is not revenge, unless you see all judicial sanctions as revenge, which would be inaccurate. The death penalty is given like every other criminal sanction in the US, with the following exeception – the death defendant is given super due process throughout the entire process, from pre trial through final appeal and clemency/commutation considerations.
24 June 2008 at 20:43
what motivated helen prejean ans stopped her from giving up?
2 September 2008 at 18:56
le 15 septembre 2008 je pars pour le pxc3xa9nitentier ANGOLA a la rencontre d’un condamnxc3xa9 a perpxc3xa9tuitxc3xa9.je corresponds avec cet homme depuis presque un an et il m’a semblxc3xa9 normal de le renconter.heureusement que la FOI m’accompagne dans ce long voyage vers un monde de violence.durant mon sxc3xa9jour je vais etre hxc3xa9bergxc3xa9 par la famille de se dxc3xa9tenu.may puisse DIEU bxc3xa9nir tous les gens qui tendent une main a tous ces malheureux.
2 September 2008 at 18:56
le 15 septembre 2008 je pars pour le pxe9nitentier ANGOLA a la rencontre d’un condamnxe9 a perpxe9tuitxe9.je corresponds avec cet homme depuis presque un an et il m’a semblxe9 normal de le renconter.heureusement que la FOI m’accompagne dans ce long voyage vers un monde de violence.durant mon sxe9jour je vais etre hxe9bergxe9 par la famille de se dxe9tenu.may puisse DIEU bxe9nir tous les gens qui tendent une main a tous ces malheureux.