It shows how much pain and suffering the families had to go through with all the sadness and hatred against Matthew Poncelant. On the other hand, the movie also illustrated how the families' hatred did not go away after Matthew was executed. The greatest emotional part of the movie was when Matthew confessed that he did kill the teenagers and that he was truly sorry. From there, he was able to at least die with dignity and also he asked the parents of the teenagers for their forgiveness for him. .
Dead Man Walking also showed how the death penalty could be biased against the poor. Matthew's partner in the crime received life in prison because he had a better lawyer while Matthew received the death penalty. Likely, Matthew would not have been sitting there if he had the money to buy a better lawyer, which is an all to common occurrence and injustice in the US judicial system. Instead he was appointed a lawyer given to him by the state who had never preformed a murder trial before. .
Sister Prejeans character was really incredible, as she took allot of flak from the victims families due to her help with Poncelet. Her compassion was truly touching. She sort of exemplified the old adage of how two wrongs don't make a right and in the end, the guilty are human just like us. .
The death penalty, regardless of your stance on it, is littered with so many injustices and faults that it's an embarrassment to our entire due process of law. Many times, supporters of capital punishment subscribe to religious and ethical points of view rather than facts, and all to often, when they do offer facts it's usually the same argument, that is that the Death Penalty is a deterrent. I don't think too many perpetrators of murder are in a rational state of mind to consider the consequences of their actions before they carry out their crimes.
The fact of the matter is that the death penalty is extremely flawed.