We are an organization dedicated to deepening and broadening the discourse about the death penalty.

We believe meaningful conversation with those whose opinions differ from ours makes for a better, more compassionate society. Such conversations require honesty, commitment and a willingness to probe and become informed about often difficult issues.

Here on our site you will find information about our organization and the projects we foster, including:

• The Dead Man Walking School Theatre Project ("The Play Project")
• The Moratorium Campaign
• Sister Helen Prejean's books and talks

LATEST NEWS

APRIL 2009: WE ARE HIRING!

We are looking for a Director for the Dead Man Walking School Theatre Project. The Director will collaborate with Tim Robbins, playwright, and Sister Helen Prejean, author of “Dead Man Walking,” in this unprecedented endeavor to combine live theater and study to engage students in reflecting on and discussing the death penalty.

Click to learn more.

Despite a state commission's finding that the death penalty is unfairly applied, the Maryland senate, on March 9, voted against abolishing the death penalty. Sister Helen spoke at a gathering at St. Anne's Church after the vote. View her speech on YouTube.

Each year, the Death Penalty Information Center publishes a report on the death penalty in the US. Highlights from the 2008 report include:

• 37 executions took place in 2008, marking a 14-year low and continuing a downward trend that began in 2000.
• 95% of all executions occurred in the South in 2008; 49% were in one state - Texas.
• The annual number of death sentences has dropped by 60% since the 1990s.
• Four death row inmates were exonerated and four had their sentences commuted to life in prison without parole during the course of this year. The total number of exonerations since 1973 is 130.
• A California commission reported that the state is spending $138 million per year on a death penalty system that they described as "broken" and "close to collapse."
• A study in Maryland indicated that the state had spent $37 million for each execution when all the costs of the death penalty were included.
• In June, the Supreme Court rejected the expansion of the death penalty to non-homicide crimes against individuals in Kennedy v. Louisiana.

Read the full report (in Adobe PDF format) now.