- “Commute ’em, commute all the sentences on death row so that they’ll never be in danger of death again and the people will stand behind you. Moral leadership is what we cry for in this country. You be that moral leader for us.” – Sister Helen Prejean
- “Our death penalty system is cruel, racist, unjust and an obscene waste of public resources.” – Public Defender Mano Raju
- “The death penalty has no place in a just and humane society. It is not only unconstitutional, it is deeply, deeply racially biased.” – Supervisor Jackie Fielder
SAN FRANCISCO – Sister Helen Prejean, the Catholic nun whose decades of activism against the death penalty inspired the Pulitzer Prize-nominated memoir Dead Man Walking, the Oscar-winning film starring Susan Sarandon, and the acclaimed opera now returning to the San Francisco Opera, came to the city this week to issue a direct plea to Governor Gavin Newsom: commute all death sentences in California.
Prejean’s call to action came during two appearances on Thursday. First, she addressed attorneys and staff at the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office, where she spoke about the history and racial realities of the death penalty. Later in the day, she joined Supervisor Jackie Fielder, Public Defender Mano Raju, faith leaders, exonerees, and advocates on the steps of City Hall to support Fielder’s resolution urging Newsom to commute the sentences of all 565 people on California’s death row.
“I want to use my words to direct right to Governor Newsom because we look at California as a beacon for where we need to go in the country,” Prejean said at the rally. “You’ve already shown where your heart lies and your conscience lies for life. Commute ’em, commute all the sentences on death row so that they’ll never be in danger of death again and the people will stand behind you. Moral leadership is what we cry for in this country. You be that moral leader for us”…