Dead Man Walking (play) incorporate the issue of the death penalty into their curriculum for at least a semester within that year. Tim's sense of partnership is also reflected in his request that the students and faculty give him feedback on the play so he can improve upon the telling of this powerful story. Dead Man Walking (play) Dead Man Walking is a 2002 play written by Tim Robbins based on "Dead Man Walking", a book by Sister Helen Prejean about her experiences as a chaplain on death row. Sister Prejean's book has also been made into a film starring Sean Penn and Susan
Elmo Patrick Sonnier Eddie Sonnier was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole because he was a minor at the time of the crime. While on death row at Louisiana State Prison, Elmo Sonnier was contacted by an outreach effort setting up communication with inmates on Death Row. Sister Helen Prejean, a Catholic nun, was assigned to him. After they started a correspondence, she began to visit him and became his spiritual adviser. He was the first of many death row inmates whom she counseled. Sr. Prejean subsequently became a nationally prominent anti-death penalty activist. Sister Helen Prejean later said