A dialogue encompassing life, death, the arts and executions

The Death Penalty Discourse Network is an organization dedicated to deepening and broadening the discourse about the death penalty.

Here on our site you will find information about our organization and the projects we foster, including:

• Sister Helen Prejean’s books and talks
• The Dead Man Walking School Theatre Project (“The Play Project”)
• The Catholic Mobilizing Network to End the Use of the Death Penalty
• The Moratorium Campaign

“Choose life”

Sister Helen Prejean is one of the best-known voices speaking against the death penalty in the United States and worldwide. She travels extensively, giving over 100 lectures a year, seeking to ignite public discourse on the issue. Her books, Dead Man Walking and The Death of Innocents, have reached people around the world and have helped engage millions of people in dialogue about state executions.

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 was asked to write to Patrick Sonnier, the convicted killer of two teenagers. Upon Sonnier’s request, Sister Helen became his spiritual advisor and accompanied him to his execution. It was this experience that galvanized her opposition to the death penalty.

The Dead Man Walking School Theatre Project (the Play Project, for short) is an opportunity to broaden discussion about the death penalty and involve schools and their local communities in an inter-disciplinary dialogue about this major social issue.

Urging doctors to truly “do no harm”

The Moratorium Campaign is working to end participation by doctors in the death penalty process via its Professional Ethics Initiative. We invite you to help us in this new campaign.

It’s an encouraging time for those who want to see an end to state killings. New Jersey recently abolished the death penalty, Maryland has dramatically narrowed its application, and New Mexico has recently become the latest member of the select group of abolitionist states. We see the number of innocent people exonerated from death row now 130 and growing. We see mounting evidence that convinces even proponents of the death penalty that the system is seriously flawed. We hope our Professional Ethics Initiative will further the discourse about the death penalty. – Sister Helen Prejean

Putting the teaching of the church into action

The Catholic Mobilizing Network to End the Use of the Death Penalty was launched on January 25, 2009. It is working in collaboration with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Its goal: to put the Church’s teaching about the death penalty into action.

The Catholic Mobilizing Network seeks to foster respectful dialogue about this serious life issue by offering educational tools and meaningful actions to schools, parishes, church groups, community groups, and individual leaders and laypersons.