Sr. Helen Prejean Promotes Catholic Mobilizing Network

Group seeks to end use of the death penalty

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Sr. Helen Prejean to speak Aug. 20 at St. James Church, Cazenovia

CAZENOVIA, NY (08/20/2010)(readMedia)-- Cazenovia College's Reisman Lecture Series will host Sister Helen Prejean, author of "Dead Man Walking," on Sept. 20, 7 p.m., at St. James Church in Cazenovia. The Reisman Lecture is free and open to the public. Tickets are required for admittance, offered on a first-come, first-served basis, with a maximum of four tickets per request. Please contact Sylvia Needel at 315-655-7261, or e-mail sneedel@cazenovia.edu, with name, mailing address and desired number of tickets. Deadline to request tickets: Sept. 14.

Sr. Helen's lecture, titled "Dead Man Walking: The Journey Continues," describes her life and work following her experiences with counseling prison inmates facing the death penalty, and explain the purpose of her most recent project, the Catholic Mobilizing Network to End Use of the Death Penalty and Promote Restorative Justice.

Since 1984, Sr. Helen has divided her time between educating citizens about the death penalty and counseling individual death row prisoners. She has accompanied six men to their deaths. In doing so, she began to suspect that some of those executed were not guilty. This realization inspired her second book, The Death of Innocents: An Eyewitness Account of Wrongful Executions," which sparked a new mission.

The Catholic Mobilizing Network, sponsored by the Congregation of St. Joseph's Ministry against the Death Penalty, grew out of Sr. Helen's experiences with two death row inmates she believes were innocent, based on evidence not produced during their trials. The group is dedicated to developing communication, education and action on all levels regarding the death penalty, victims' families and restorative justice.

"Sr. Helen's visit coincides with the selection of John Grisham's "The Innocent Man" as the reading required of all 2010 First Year students at Cazenovia College," said Dr. Donald McCrimmon, dean of the faculty. "The College is encouraging students to take a critical look at the judicial system in the United States and begin to develop their own legal and moral positions about crime and the punishments meted out by our society. In that regard, we're also planning a College Theatre production of Sr. Helen's 'Dean Man Walking,' this fall, so our students will have ample opportunity to reflect on these important issues."

Sr. Helen's books will be available for purchase, and she will sign copies following the lecture. For more information, visit www.cazenovia.edu/ReismanLectures, and www.prejean.org.

Photo: Sister Helen Prejean

Cazenovia College, named one of "America's Best Colleges" by US News & World Report, is an independent, co-educational, baccalaureate college, located near Syracuse, N.Y. Cazenovia College offers a comprehensive liberal arts education in an exceptional community environment, with academic and co-curricular programs devoted to developing leaders in their professional fields. For more information, visit www.cazenovia.edu. # # #