Annual Dinner to Feature Sister
Helen Prejean
With a celebrity guest speaker, a most deserving "Abolitionist
of the Year," and a new 
plush location
at the Renaissance Hotel, the 2005 CADP Annual
Dinner on March 30 promises to be a very
special event.
Sister Helen Prejean is the author
of Dead Man Walking (Random House, 1993),
which was on the New York Times bestsellers
list for 31 weeks. The book was translated
into 12 languages and was nominated for
a Pulitzer Prize.
Dead Man Walking was later made into a major
motion picture starring Susan Sarandon, who
won the 1996 Academy Award for Best Actress
for her portrayal of Sister Helen. The film
received three other Oscar nominations: Sean
Penn for Best Actor, Tim Robbins for Best
Director, and Bruce Springsteen's "Dead
Man Walking" for Best Song.
Sister Helen's newly-released second book,
The Death of Innocents:
An Eyewitness Account of Wrongful Executions, tells the stories
of two executed men, Joseph O'Dell and Dobie
Gillis Williams, whom she believes were innocent
of the crimes for which they were convicted.
More than 20 years after beginning her crusade,
the Roman Catholic sister has accompanied
six men to their executions and continues
to educate the public about the death penalty
by lecturing, organizing and writing. As
the founder of "Survive," a victim's
advocacy group in New Orleans, she continues
to counsel not only inmates on death row,
but families of murder victims as well.
"I've walked out of that execution
chamber six times after watching the state
kill a human being. I was filled with outrage,
anger and despair that I was powerless to
stop it," says Helen. "And what
I do is, I write and I become a witness.
Because until the American people understand
this, we're going to keep doing this."
Sister Helen will be signing copies of both
of her books, which will be available for
purchase at the dinner.
For more information or to purchase dinner
tickets, go to our web site at www.coadp.org.
