Sister Helen on Social Media
Will you please sign?
Here's the comment I left with my signature: Mr. President, in the spirit of boldness with which you are initiating refreshing, transformative, life-changing social policies in our nation, I urge you to use the fullness of the power invested in you to commute every federal death sentence from death to life. Be bold, President Biden! Truly, what would Jesus do?
There is a fee for this event and you can register online.
'Fully Ecology' introduces a new dimension of understanding that our separation from nature diminishes our own sense of aliveness. Gary and Mary take us by the hand and lead us deep into connection - connection with the beauty and life forces of the natural world. It's a connection that breathes life anew into our isolated, virtual, “blue screen” fixated lives.
Join me this Earth Day, April 22, 4 pm PST. https://www.wildboundlive.com/events/walkinthewild
Mr. President, in the Spirit of boldness with which you are initiating refreshing, transformative, life-changing social policies in our nation, I urge you to use the power invested in you to commute every federal death sentence from death to life. Truly, what would Jesus do?
I signed the @CMNEndtheDP petition asking @POTUS to end the federal death penalty. Will you join me?
https://catholicsmobilizing.org/biden-end-federal-dp
I signed the @CMNEndtheDP petition asking @POTUS to end the federal death penalty. Will you join me?
Tell President Biden: End Federal Death Penalty
Sign the petition urging President Biden to honor the sanctity of life by prioritizing the abolition of the federal death penalty.
catholicsmobilizing.org
A jury found Derek Chauvin guilty of murdering George Floyd. The conviction of one individual is a small measure of justice when we have a system that remains plagued with centuries-worth of racism in the law and in practice. I pray that this will be a catalyst for real change.
Zimbabwe released at least 320 people from its jails over the weekend in an effort to prevent a new wave of COVID infections:
In a bid to curb the virus, Zimbabwe releases hundreds of prisoners.
At least 320 prisoners were released on Saturday in an effort to ease congestion in the country’s notoriously crowded jails.
www.nytimes.com
A bill pending in the Florida legislature would bar the state from seeking a death sentence for those with severe mental illnesses:
Florida still executes the mentally ill. This bill would stop that.
A Tampa Bay public defender and lawmaker teamed up to draft Senate Bill 1156, which would bar the death sentence...
www.tampabay.com
Arizona's prison system has been held in contempt of court again for failing to provide adequate healthcare to incarcerated people. The fines could reach as high as $23 million:
Lawyers say Arizona’s fine over prison care could reach $23M
PHOENIX (AP) — Lawyers representing Arizona prisoners say a third round of contempt of court fines against the s...
apnews.com
Tennessee legislative committees have advanced a bill that would allow death row prisoners to challenge their sentences on the grounds that have intellectual disability:
NEWS BRIEF — Tennessee Legislative Committees Approve Intellectual Disability Bill
Those bills, which died in committee without a vote, and the bills that were approved by the committees would ha...
deathpenaltyinfo.org
Baltimore settled a lawsuit filed by pre-trial detainees, requiring jail officials to make vaccines available by May 1, enforce social distancing and mask-wearing, and properly sanitize facilities:
State agrees to provide vaccines, cleaner conditions for inmates at Baltimore jail to end COVID-19 lawsuit
All detainees at the Chesapeake Detention Facility in Baltimore will be offered coronavirus vaccines by May 1 and ...
www.baltimoresun.com
Every person incarcerated in a federal prison will be offered a COVID-19 vaccination by mid-May:
All Federal Inmates To Be Offered Vaccine By Mid-May, BOP Director Says
A third of people held in federal prisons have received the vaccine already. But federal inmates make up just 10...
www.npr.org
As children of the civil rights movement, we know how faithfully our parents sacrificed to defeat Jim Crow. They challenged Jim Crow’s subversion of democracy b/c they knew it undermined the promises of democracy for every American.
w/ @BerniceKing @TIME
We Must Reclaim Voting Rights as a Moral Issue
William Barber and Bernie King on what they've learned children of the civil rights movement
time.com
Nevada to pay wrongfully convicted man $1.35 million after serving 18 years in prison https://bit.ly/3tiR2QL
After the Nevada Assembly voted today to abolish the death penalty, the head of the Nevada Senate, Nicole Cannizzaro, a Democrat who happens to be a career prosecutor, will not even promise to give the bill, that would end the racist practice, a hearing.
Nevada Assembly votes to abolish death penalty in historic move; bill’s future uncertain in Senate
The bill faces a more uncertain climate in the Senate, where Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro (D-Las Vegas),...
thenevadaindependent.com
.@GeneralBrnovich is rushing to execute 21 people before he leaves office. The death penalty is inhumane and to pursue it in the interest of politics should concern us all. Tweet @dougducey and tell him resuming executions is wrong for Arizona.
Editorial: Arizona's attorney general wants to finish his term with a rush of executions
Arizona Atty. Gen. Mark Brnovich vows to execute 21 people before he is termed out. You can't get much more arbitrary than that.
www.latimes.com
Nevada’s State Assembly just passed a bill today that would abolish the death penalty! The bill next moves to the State Senate for consideration and then, if it passes the Senate, to the governor. Follow @nvcadp for updates and to get involved!
Tarra Simmons is the first formerly incarcerated lawmaker in Washington State’s recent history. A bill she sponsored was signed into law yesterday by Gov. Jay Inslee, who credited her advocacy. It enables all formerly incarcerated Washingtonians to vote.
She Lost Her Right to Vote Over A Felony. Now This Lawmaker Has Helped Enfranchise Thousands.
Tarra Simmons lays out why she championed a new law that restores voting rights to people on probation and parol...
theappeal.org
.@Suntimes editorial: "Biden should make good on pledge to end death penalty."
Biden should make good on pledge to end death penalty | Editorial
Often, defendants are sentenced to die in cases in which the evidence is flimsy or officials engaged in misconduct. President Biden knows this.
chicago.suntimes.com
Another law in Arizona = ARS 13-3406: It is unlawful to possess a prescription-only drug without a valid prescription and unlawful to obtain a prescription-only drug by fraud, deceit, or subterfuge.
Where is the prescription for Arizona’s $1.5 million execution drug purchase?
Capital punishment is the law in Arizona and the appropriate response to those who commit the most shocking and vile murders. This is about the administration of justice and ensuring the last word still belongs to the innocent victims who can no longer speak for themselves. https://twitter.com/GeneralBrnovich/status/1379529881826979843
An investigation by @guardian reveals that states have spent millions on illicit execution drugs, even requesting shipment in “unmarked boxes and jars.”
Revealed: Republican-led states secretly spending huge sums on execution drugs
Documents obtained by the Guardian show three states paying over the odds to skirt – almost certainly illegally ...
www.theguardian.com
Jonathan Mann, a murder victim family member from the Cleveland area: “Ohio can stop hurting the families of victims this year” by abolishing the death penalty.
Son of murder victim urges legislature to end death penalty quickly - Ohio Capital Journal
Attorney General Yost offers two options, but I’ll narrow it down even further: end the death penalty-- quickly.
ohiocapitaljournal.com
This: Since pandemic, 3 in 10 prisoners have tested positive and 2,500 have died. Prisons are often overcrowded, with limited access to health care and protective gear, and populations inside are more likely to have preexisting medical conditions. https://twitter.com/helenprejean/status/1379476244262084608
Fewer than 20% of people incarcerated in federal and state prisons have been vaccinated against COVID-19: https://www.themarshallproject.org/2021/04/06/as-states-expand-vaccine-eligibility-many-people-in-prison-still-wait-for-shots
This Earth Day, April 22, 4 pm PST, follow Mary M Clare and Gary Ferguson, authors of the new book Full Ecology, on a virtual adventure in America's Wild to uncover the brilliance and promise of our place in the world. Practical and poetic, scientific and spiritual, this cross-geographical adventure offers a chance to stop, reflect, and re-energize our connections to human nature and rediscover the guiding lights that rest in our relationships.
I’ll be on #Appeal Live with Rep. @ayannapressley this afternoon to talk about how @potus can quickly and permanently end the federal death penalty. 1 pm ET, streaming live on Twitter and Facebook — hope you’ll join us!
We have lost one of the anchors of the movement to abolish the death penalty. Bill Pelke passed away yesterday after suffering a heart attack while shoveling snow at his home in Anchorage, Alaska. I will have more to say soon about Bill’s incredible legacy of anti-death penalty activism and advocacy for murder victims’ families, but for now my thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends, and fellow activists. This is a profound loss for our movement.
Robert Fisher was wounded in Vietnam and received a Purple Heart medal from President Lyndon Johnson. Today, Robert is in his seventies, suffering with PTSD and other mental health conditions, and preparing for his third re-trial after years on Pennsylvania’s death row. #veteransday
#veteransday
Fair Wayne Bryant was sentenced to life in prison for stealing hedge clippers. This type of unjust, harsh punishment dates all the way back to racist laws enacted during Reconstruction. Fair had a parole hearing yesterday where he was represented by the great Louisiana @paroleproject. After the parole board considered everything, Fair was granted parole and released from prison yesterday afternoon!
Today marks the 20th Anniversary of the opening of Dead Man Walking at the San Francisco Opera, with libretto by the late, great Terrence McNally and music by my friend Jake Heggie.
I’m deeply saddened to hear that Justice Ginsburg has passed away. She was a trailblazer in the truest sense. I will always treasure the time I spent with her when the Kennedy Center performed the opera of Dead Man Walking a few years ago. Our nation is the poorer for her loss.
I have 10 hardcover copies of Kendi’s deeply rewarding “How to be an Antiracist”. If you would like a copy, donate at least $50 to a bail fund of your choice and send your receipt plus mailing address to rachael@sisterhelen.org. We’ll send a copy to the first 10 people to do.
Want to meet me on a Zoom call AND support a great cause? You can even bring along 3 of your friends! Bid now on @Charitybuzz and help @ACLU_SoCal defend and preserve the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution and US laws. Search “Sister Helen Prejean” on Charitybuzz.com. Thanks for your support of this incredible organization!
This Thursday, I'll be in conversation with Tessie Castillo and Lyle May on Crimson Letters: Voices from Death Row. The topic is "Why is it so hard to hold criminal justice actors - law enforcement, prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges - accountable?" There are three following events. Please join us! Link is in my bio.
A Message from Sister Helen’s Staff:
I will be introducing this event because I share Full Ecology’s interest in returning humans to our deep kinship with nature. A Live Q&A will follow the event.
As Jake says: "It was a transformative moment for so many people - for the field of American Opera - and certainly for me, personally and professionally. Since then, the opera has received 70 productions (more than 350 performances) all over the world to become the most-performed new American opera."
The first photo shows me with Jake at the premiere. The second, also taken at the premiere, is of the "four nuns": me, Susan Sarandon (who played me in the film), Susan Graham (who sang my part in the opera), and that other famous 'nun', Julie Andrews!
Today is Sr. Helen’s birthday! This past year has been full of surprises and moments of grace. It’s good people like you who share Sr. Helen’s hope to see a world without executions that keep her going. Please share any birthday wishes in the comments and we’ll make sure they get to her.
