The Short Coat

Sister Helen Prejean has been an anti-death-penalty advocate since 1981, when she first became the pen pal of a death-row inmate in Louisiana's Angola State Prison. Since then she's witnessed five executions in Louisiana, and has written two books on the subject, including the book that was made into the 1996 film Dead Man Walking. The role of physicians in state-sanctioned death isn't much talked about, and being a prison physician isn't something many doctors aspire to; nevertheless, we saw an opportunity to talk with Sister Helen about why medical students should think more about the death penalty.