Dead Man Walking

by Helen Prejean

  CHAPTER SIX

  1. For a probing exploration of the relationship between religion and the practice of retribution, see Susan Jacoby’s Wild Justice: The Evolution of Revenge (New York: Harper and Row, 1983).

  2. See Table 1 in Fox, Radelet, and Bonsteel’s “Death Penalty Opinion in the Post-Furman Years.” Over a fifteen-year period — from 1972 to 1988 — a composite 73.3 percent of Catholics and 71.4 percent of Protestants favored death for first-degree murderers while support in the overall population registered at 71.2 percent.

  3. See The Death Penalty: The Religious Community Calls for Abolition, published by the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty and the National Interreligious Task Force on Criminal Justice. Copies may be obtained from NCADP, 1325 G. Street NW (LL-B), Washington, D.C. 20005, (202) 347–2411.

  See also Philip English Mackey’s work in which he illustrates that some of the most vocal defenders of the death penalty in America a century ago were Christian clergymen: “An All Star Debate on Capital Punishment, Boston, 1854,” Essex Institute Historical Collections 110 (July, 1974): pp. 181–199.

  4. In the 1980 “Statement on Capital Punishment,” the U.S. Catholic Bishops state: “Allowing for the fact that Catholic teaching has accepted the principle that the state has the right to take the life of a person guilty of an extremely serious crime …”

  The state’s right to execute criminals is a long-standing teaching in the Catholic Church. Augustine (354–430) argued that the wicked might be “coerced by the sword” in order to protect the innocent, and Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) declared the killing of “evildoers” lawful when “directed to the welfare of the whole community.”

  For a historical perspective on the Catholic Church’s position supporting government’s right to use force against its citizens, see chapter 5 of Elaine Pagels, Adam, Eve, and the Serpent (New York: Vintage Books, 1989), pp. 98–126.

  5. These estimates, computed by Glenn L. Pierce and Michael L. Radelet, were based on an estimated population of 248,239,000 and utilized statistics from the U.S. Department of Justice, 1989 (supra note 4, at 48), and the U.S. Department of Commerce, Statistical Abstract of the United States, 1989, pp. 78, 84 (1990). See Glenn L. Pierce and Michael L. Radelet, “The Role and Consequences of the Death Penalty in American Politics,” New York University Review of Law and Social Change 18, no. 3 (1990–1991): pp. 711–728, esp. p. 714.

  6. Paul Slovic, Baruch Fischhoff & Sarah Lichtenstein, “Facts Versus Fears: Understanding Perceived Risk,” in Judgment Under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases Daniel Kahneman, Paul Slovic, and Amos Tversky, eds., (1982), p. 467.

  7. See Pierce and Radelet, “The Role and Consequences of the Death Penalty in American Politics,” op. cit., p. 713.

  8. David von Drehle, “The Death Penalty: A Failure of Execution,” Miami Herald, July 10, 1988. See also Robert L. Spangenberg and Elizabeth R. Walsh, “Capital Punishment or Life Imprisonment? Some Cost Considerations,” Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review 23 (1989): pp. 45–58; Margot Garey, “The Cost of Taking a Life: Dollars and Sense of the Death Penalty,” University of California-Davis Law Review 18 (1985): pp. 1221–1273; and Massachusetts Bar Association, “The Dollar and Human Costs of the Death Penalty,” in A Special Issue on the Death Penalty, April 1992.

  9. Massachusetts Bar Association, “Costs of the Death Penalty.”

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  1. Susan Jacoby, Wild Justice: The Evolution of Revenge (New York: Harper and Row, 1983), pp. 5, 10.

  2. Crime and Justice Facts, Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1987.

  In 1979 the Louisiana legislature repealed the ten years-six-months release procedure (La. R. S. 15:571.7), which had been operative since 1926, and mandated a life sentence “without benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence” for a number of crimes: first-degree murder — when juries fail to vote unanimously for the death penalty (La. R.S. 14:30); second-degree murder (La. R.S. 14:30.1); aggravated rape (La. R.S. 14:42); and aggravated kidnapping (R.S. 14:44). In 1976 the legislature mandated that those convicted of possession of heroin with intent to distribute must serve a life sentence’ with no possibility of parole (R.S.40: 966). See Bryan Denson, Punishment: Life Means Life in Louisiana,” Houston Post, July 14, 1991.

  3. Jacoby, Wild Justice, p. 289.

  4. Ibid., p. 11.

  5. See Julian H. Wright, “Life-Without-Parole,” Vanderbilt Law Review 43, pp. 530–568.

  According to research conducted by the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, as of August 1992, seventeen death-penalty states have “true” life-sentences-without-parole: Alabama, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, and Washington; and twelve death-penalty states have “life-without-parole” sentences where parole is possible after a minimum number (at least twenty) of years served: Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Kentucky, Indiana, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas. Of non-death-penalty states eight have “true” life-sentences-without-parole: Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Rhode Island, Vermont, and West Virginia; and three have minimum time served statutes: Alaska, Kansas, and North Dakota. Ten states have unspecified life sentences. Of these the death-penalty states are: Georgia, Idaho, Mississippi, New Mexico, Utah, Virginia, and Wyoming; and the non-death-penalty states are: Minnesota, New York, and Wisconsin.

  See the “Alternative Sentencing Summary” Nov. 1993, published by the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (see note 20, chapter 3).

  6. Ibid., pp. 542–543. Kentucky’s Truth in Sentencing Act in 1986 (Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. 439.3401(3) [Michie/Bobbs-Merrill Supp. 1988]) mandates that violent offenders serve at least 50 percent of the terms of years imposed against them before becoming eligible for parole.

  7. See Elizabeth Leech, “Kansas Senate Votes Down Death Penalty,” Kansas City Times, April 4, 1987.

  8. K.S.A. 21–4622, effective July 1, 1990.

  9. South Carolina Constitution, article IV: 14.

  10. Amnesty International polls conducted in six states consistently showed that citizens prefer life imprisonment to death when offered a choice between the two alternatives. Presented with the choice, support for the death penalty in Georgia (Dec, 1986) registered at 46 percent; in Kentucky (Dec, 1989), 36 percent; in Maryland (Nov., 1988), 45 percent; in Massachusetts (Sept., 1990), 44 percent; in New Mexico (Oct., 1990), 50 percent; in New York (March, 1991), 36 percent, and in Oklahoma (Dec, 1988), 48 percent. See note 21 in chapter 5.

  11. The same Amnesty International polls show that when offered this alternative, only 42 percent of the residents of Georgia soil preferred the death penalty, 38 percent of the residents of New Mexico, 41 percent of New Yorkers, and 27 percent of Virginians.

  12. This idea is also found in social science literature. See Gresham M. Sykes and David Matza, “Techniques of Neutralization: A Theory of Delinquency,” American Sociological Review 22 (December 1957): pp. 664–670.

  13. The juvenile records of Robert Lee Willie are held at the St. Tammany Parish Sheriffs Office, Covington, Louisiana.

  14. State v. Willie, 410 So.2d 1019 (La. 1982).

  15. Trial Transcripts, State of Louisiana v. Robert Lee Willie, Supreme Court of the State of Louisiana, No. 81-KA-0242: vol. 7, pp. 451–452.

  16. Robert Lee Willie v Ross Maggio, Jr., 737 F.2d 1372 (5th Cir., 1984).

  17. See John Fahey, “Second Killer Gets Life in Faith Hathaway Case,” Times-Picayune, October 25, 1980.

  18. Robert Lee Willie: Legal Chronology

  May 28, 1980: Murder of Faith Hathaway.

  May 30, 1980: Kidnapping of Mark Brewster and his teenage girlfriend.

  June 3, 1980: Arrest in Hope, Arkansas, on charges of kidnapping and rape (Brewster and girlfriend).

  June 30-July 1, 1980: In federal court Willie and Vaccaro plead guilty to kidnapping (Brewster and girlfr
iend) and receive three 30-year sentences to be served in a federal penitentiary.

  October 20–23, 1980: Willie goes to trial in state court, Washington Parish, for the murder of Faith Hathaway. The jury finds him guilty and sentences him to death. At the same time, in the same courthouse, Vaccaro’s jury finds him guilty and sentences him to life imprisonment.

  November 13, 1980: Willie and Vaccaro, on trial in state court in Baton Rouge, are each sentenced to four life sentences for aggravated rape, kidnapping, and attempted murder (Brewster and girlfriend).

  January 25, 1982: The Louisiana Supreme Court overturns Willie’s death sentence and orders a new sentencing trial.

  June 28, 29, 1982: At a second sentencing trial the jury once again sentences Willie to death.

  August, 1983: Willie is sentenced in a state district court to a life sentence for second-degree murder of Sheriff Deputy Wagner.

  November 7, 1983: Willie is released from federal prison and sent to death row at Angola.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  1. In 1984 Louisiana Pardon Board members were paid $28,900 annually; the chairperson, $34,700. Source: Louisiana Department of Safety and Corrections Capital Station, P.O. Box 94304, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70804, (504) 342–6740.

  2. Jason DeParle, “A Matter of Life or Death,” Times-Picayune, April 7, 1985, p. 6.

  3. John Fahey, “Mother Is Sentenced to Jail for Aiding Wanted Son,” Times-Picayune, February 13, 1981.

  4. Liz Scott, “A Patron for the Condemned,” New Orleans Magazine, April 1985, pp. 66–71.

  5. Jonathan Eig, “Picking Up the Pieces,” The Angolite 16, no. 3 (May/ June 1991): pp. 46–50. The article is a reprint of the article “A Tough Lesson” in the Dallas Morning News, March 25, 1991.

  The Baton Rouge Morning Advocate published numerous articles about the bribes-for-pardon scandal, from September 4, 1986, when Marsellus was indicted, until August 30, 1989, when he was paroled from the Federal Correctional Institute at Fort Worth, Texas.

  6. Along with State Representative Joseph A. Delpit, Marsellus was indicted on state conspiracy, corrupt influencing, and public bribery charges. Marsellus settled the state charges in a plea agreement that called for his cooperation in the state’s case against Delpit. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud, a federal offense, and served time in a federal, not a state penitentiary.

  7. The date of Marilyn Hampton’s release, June 9, 1986, is recorded at the Louisiana Department of Safety and Corrections, P.O. Box 94304, Capitol Station, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70804–9304. Records in this office state that she was given a sentence of only twelve years for first-degree murder, but records of the Fourth Judicial Court of Louisiana in Ouachita Parish (Docket No. 38292) where Hampton was tried, convicted, and sentenced, give the original sentence as life imprisonment.

  8. Joe Morris Doss, an Episcopal priest and attorney who helped represent Knighton during his appeals, has written a monograph about Earnest Knighton, Jr.’s case, The Death Penalty — Law and Morality: A Case Study (Cincinnati: Forward Movement Publications, 1988): 412 Sycamore Street, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202.

  CHAPTER NINE

  1. The story is told in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 2.

  2. The account of Riley is told by San Quentin death-watch officer, Joseph Ferretti, who participated in 126 executions and kept a notebook of the first 117. See Michael A. Kroll, “The Fraternity of Death,” at pp. 16–26 in Michael L. Radelet (ed.), Facing the Death Penalty: Essays on a Cruel and Unusual Punishment (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1989).

  3. See Albert Nolan, O.P., Jesus Before Christianity (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1976). This book, with its telling title, is the most compelling book about Jesus that I have ever read.

  4. Elaine Pagels, Adam, Eve, and the Serpent (New York: Vintage Books, 1989), p. xxv.

  5. Jacoby, Wild Justice, pp. 336–337.

  Among Catholics in the United States the Catholic Worker Movement, begun by Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin in the early part of this century, embraces nonviolence as a way of life as well as a tactic for social transformation (see note 1, chapter 1).

  The Aims and Means of the Catholic Worker Movement’s charter states: “ ‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.’ (Matthew 5:9) Only through nonviolent action can a personalist revolution come about, one in which one evil will not be replaced simply by another. Thus, we oppose the deliberate taking of life for any reason, and see every oppression as blasphemy. Jesus taught us to take suffering upon ourselves rather than inflict it upon others, and He calls us to fight against violence with the spiritual weapons of prayer, fasting and non-cooperation with evil …”

  Also within the Catholic tradition, Pax Christi (Peace of Christ) seeks to implement nonviolence “in thought, word, and action.” The international organization sponsors retreats and conferences and publishes numerous materials on nonviolence. (Pax Christi USA, 348 East Tenth Street, Erie, Pennsylvania 16503, (814) 453–4955.

  CHAPTER TEN

  1. Walter Berns, For Capital Punishment: Crime and the Morality of the Death Penalty (New York: Basic Books, 1979), pp. 269–270.

  2. Quoted from Associated Press dispatches by Henry Schwarzschild, “Homicide by Injection,” New York Times, December 23, 1982.

  3. See John K Wiley, Associated Press Writer, “Delaying Hanging Crueler Than Death, Lawyer Says,” Times-Picayune, January 5, 1993.

  4. John Laurence, The History of Capital Punishment (New York: Citadel Press, 1983).

  5. John Pope, “Execution by Injection Tonight,” Times Picayune, November 14, 1991.

  6. Gallup found that six in ten of those who favor the death penalty agree that “the poor are more likely than those of average or above average income to receive the death penalty for the same crime.” See “Death Penalty Support Remains Strong,” The Gallup Poll Monthly no. 309 (June 1991).

  Also see Robert H. Thomas, and John D. Hutcheson, Jr., “Georgia Residents’ Attitudes Toward the Death Penalty, the Disposition of Juvenile Offenders, and Related Issues” (City Center for Public and Urban Research, Georgia State University, University Plaza, Atlanta, Georgia 30303, December 1986).

  7. When Californians who favored the death penalty were asked, “Suppose it were proved that a mistake had been made and an innocent person had been executed,” 63 percent said they would still support the death penalty. See John Balzar, “75% Support Death Penalty in California,” Los Angeles Times, August 19, 1985.

  8. “Harper’s Index,” Harper’s, July 1992. Source: Research USA (1992), 645 North Michigan Avenue, Suite 640, Chicago, Illinois 60611, (312) 337–1992.

  9. ABC/Washington Post Poll, September 1989.

  10. Michael L. Radelet, Hugo A. Bedau, Constance Putnam, In Spite of Innocence: Erroneous Convictions in Capital Cases (Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1992).

  11. Ibid., pp. 60–73.

  12. Ibid., pp. 276, 318.

  13. Ibid., pp. 197–213.

  14. Ibid., pp. 300–301.

  15. Ibid., p. 289.

  16. Michael L. Radelet, “People Released from Death Row since 1970 with Evidence of Innocence,” unpublished paper, University of Florida, department of sociology, Gainesville, Florida 32611, March, 1992.

  17. Radelet, Bedau, Putnam, In Spite of Innocence, pp. 5–10.

  18. David Margolick, “25 Wrongfully Executed in U.S., Study Finds,” New York Times, November 14, 1985.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  1. Willie Lawrence Celestine, executed July 20, 1987. Willie was one of the two clients — Robert Willie, the other — whom Millard Farmer asked me to befriend when he came to visit me in October, 1984 (see page 115 at the end of chapter 5).

  2. Sterling Rault was executed on August 24, 1987. His was the 992nd confirmed legal execution in Louisiana since 1722. For documentation on legal executions in the United States, contact Watt Espy, Capital Punishment Research Project, Box 277, Headland, Alabama 36345, (205) 693–5225.


  3. The U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics records 23,438 homicides in 1990. For information on U.S. crime, contact Justice Statistics Clearinghouse, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, D.C. 20531, (800) 732–3277.

  4. The Mennonites promote programs of nonviolent social change. For information on Mennonite Volunteers, contact the Mennonite Central Committee, 21 South 12th Street, PO Box 500, Akron, Pennsylvania 17501–0500, (717) 859–1151.

  5. The National Organization for Victim Assistance (NOVA) publishes a Directory of Victim Assistance Programs and Resources in states and municipalities across the United States. This broad-based organization publishes a newsletter, holds an annual national conference and conducts training for victims’ advocates. Contact: 1757 Park Road N.W., Washington, D.C. 20010, (202) 232–6682.

  6. There are exceptions. In New York state, The Genessee County Community Victim Assistance Program is a model example of collaboration between law enforcement officials and the community in attending to victims’ needs. Contact: Community Victim Assistance Program, Genesee County Sheriffs Department, County Building No. 1, Batavia, New York, (716) 344–2550, ext. 226.

  7. Howard Zehr, Changing Lenses: A New Focus for Crime and Justice (Scottdale, Pennsylvania: Herald Press, 1990), pp. 215–216.

  8. Source: Uniform Crime Reports for the U.S., FBI, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, D.C. 20535.

  9. See “Millions Misspent: What Politicians Don’t Say About the High Costs of the Death Penalty,” a report by the Death Penalty Information Center, October 1992, pp. 3–9. Contact: 1606 20th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20009 (202) 347–2531.

  10. Walt Philbin, “N.O. Murders Down by 61,” Times-Picayune, January 1, 1993.

  11. The following are some national organizations and programs which offer victim assistance: