pray. death row in louisiana, you cannot see outside you can see outside, and you can see the front gates of the prison, so on execution nights, you can see the people outside protesting. that created the atmosphere that we needed to pray for the people that were saying kill, kill. that was everlasting on me. it made me really come home and work for the resource center right away. i understood that these people or human as well. we are all human. we might have made mistakes in life, but they are human. how many of us made mistakes? i had a few guys that were in iraq, that were fighting for our country and came home and reenlisted back in the army to go back over there. they went to a bar, got into a fight that led to the killing. the military they break them. there are some real good people on death row that were not the people that came to death row that committed the crime or did not commit the crime. i m not here to say who did or did not do something, but to see tha
that was everlasting on me. it made me really come home and work for the resource center right away. i understood that these people or human as well. we are all human. we might have made mistakes in life, but they are human. how many of us made mistakes? i had a few guys that were in iraq, that were fighting for our country and came home and reenlisted back in the army to go back over there. they went to a bar, got into a fight that led to the killing. the military they break them. there are some real good people on death row that were not the people that came to death row that committed the crime or did not commit the crime. i m not here to say who did or did not do something, but to see that side that people do not get to hear about. they do not get to hear that these guys pray to god, that they pray for the victims families out there, no matter who they are. it was something everybody did on death row. it was a rule of law. when is the time of execution, no one eats. it
that was everlasting on me. it made me really come home and work for the resource center right away. i understood that these people or human as well. we are all human. we might have made mistakes in life, but they are human. how many of us made mistakes? i had a few guys that were in iraq, that were fighting for our country and came home and reenlisted back in the army to go back over there. they went to a bar, got into a fight that led to the killing. the military they break them. there are some real good people on death row that were not the people that came to death row that committed the crime or did not commit the crime. i m not here to say who did or did not do something, but to see that side that people do not get to hear about. they do not get to hear that these guys pray to god, that they pray for the victims families out there, no matter who they are. it was something everybody did on death row. it was a rule of law. when is the time of execution, no one eats. it
that created the atmosphere that we needed to pray for the people that were saying kill, kill. that was everlasting on me. it made me really come home and work for the resource center right away. i understood that these people or human as well. we are all human. we might have made mistakes in life, but they are human. how many of us made mistakes? i had a few guys that were in iraq, that were fighting for our country and came home and reenlisted back in the army to go back over there. they went to a bar, got into a fight that led to the killing. the military they break them. there are some real good people on death row that were not the people that came to death row that committed the crime or did not commit the crime. i m not here to say who did or did not do something, but to see that side that people do not get to hear about. they do not get to hear that these guys pray to god, that they pray for the victims families out there, no matter who they are. it was something
individual changed. then he went on to have a very successful career and retired on a golf course in florida, as a matter of fact. they were debating the death penalty at the country club one day, and he said in two weeks, he would bring its former death row inmate. two weeks later, he walked in the room. he said that he immediately changed the minds of those arguing for the death penalty. that is just one powerful case, but there are many stories like that. i know that was not my question, but [laughter] your question was how could you bear to preside over an execution. how did you handle it? i would tell myself that it was my role to lead, and leading that many things to me. that meant leaving my staff for the process. it meant leaving the inmates at the facility through the process. it meant reaching out to the family members of both the victim and the inmate. i just focused on what my responsibility was and my efforts to conduct this event as professionally and huma