Death penalty foe sees hope in fewer death-row cases

Published: 2005-01-11

SAN ANTONIO (CNS) -- Sister Helen Prejean, well-known for her opposition to capital punishment, told a San Antonio audience she sees signs of hope because there are fewer death-row cases today than ever before. But she noted that "Texas is standing out more and more in its stark contrast to the number of executions it continues to do," she said, "even as the rest of the country is starting to put it away, the machinery of death." Just hours before the Sister of St. Joseph of Medaille addressed a crowd at Travis Park United Methodist Church, Texas Gov. Rick Perry handed down a last-minute stay of execution for Frances Newton to allow 120 days for the retesting of evidence in her case. The Louisiana nun is author of the award-winning book "Dead Man Walking," which was made into a movie starring Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn. Her second book, "The Death of Innocents: An Eyewitness Account of Wrongful Executions," has just been released. In her talk in early December, she wondered "what has happened with religion and, especially, Christianity" when followers of Jesus uphold the death penalty.

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