Death Row Prisons In Dead Man Walking

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In the movie Dead Man Walking, Matthew Poncelet represents how most inmates on Death Row are stripped of the inherent rights to work, have a community, and to be respected/treated as human beings according to the Catholic Social Teaching themes and principles. We are taught that people make mistakes, and that we should forgive them. We also are taught that if you do something for an evil intention, you get punished, and that the more trouble your in, the bigger punishment you get. But does punishing someone mean you disrespect their rights and dignity as a person?
In the film, Matt tells us there’s no work on death row, he says, “their fattening me up, like a pig to the slaughter.” Unlike most prisons, when you are in a death row prison they strip you of your …show more content…
The inmates on death row are people that have strayed from the “path” that leads us to being the best human beings we possible can. These people have gotten lost along the way and instead of helping them get back on track we lock them away. We put them in an environment where there is no healthy community. A death row prison is a place where there is no compassion, no participation, and no respect for the dignity of every human being. There is simply no healthy community. These people, these convicts sentenced to death, should be in a place of healing, a place of forgiveness, a place that can help them reconcile, and die with dignity. This was Sr. Helen’s goal. She wanted to help Matt die with dignity. She brought a spirit and mindset of kindness and compassion into the prison with her. Sr. Helen brought with her the tools to make a healthy community, and make one she did. Between Matt and herself, there was a trusting and safe community. Unlike all the other people in Matt’s prison, Sr. Helen respected Matt’s inherent dignity and treated him as a dignified

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