The death penalty exists in America today as an extremely controversial topic. Is this punishment really rational? Should moral considerations be applied? Is the death sentence racially skewed?
Sister Helen Prejean was at UW-Madison Tuesday to speak about these issues. She is best known for her book \Dead Man Walking,"" which addresses the questions behind capital punishment.
Her strong stance against the death penalty was shaped by her experiences as a spiritual advisor to a man sentenced to death.
She never thought she would have to walk him to his execution, but she refused to let him die alone.
Through this obstacle she discovered her beliefs and standpoint on the death penalty.
Sister Prejean views those on death row as human beings although others see them as inhumane for their acts. She discovered she had sympathy for the family members of not only the victims, but also those whose son or daughter was sentenced.
UW-Madison freshman Carolyn Arena said she related to the speaker and her impact on the issues.
""When we use the death penalty we often think that there's kind of a ray of hatred that we're focusing on one person. But actually that has an impact on that person's whole family,"" Sister Prejean said.
She also addressed the fact that minorities are more likely to receive the death penalty for a crime committed against a white person. The higher percentage of death sentences for minorities is directly related to the inability to have a good lawyer or the poor resources to obtain one, she said. This issue prompted her to believe that this injustice should be a part of the civil rights movement.
UW-Madison freshman Samantha Schilling commented on the most successful part of her lecture, which was ""Everything [Prejean] thought of and how she portrayed it [by] going into all the different aspects of all the different families and people who are affected from this one thing.""
Prejean ended by warning Wisconsin to stay aware of state politicians who may try to convince state residents to use the death penalty for reconciliation for families and to lower crime.
