"Dead Man Walking"

My own views regarding capital punishment were not affected by the movie, “Dead Man Walking.” I think this is because the movie does an excellent job of not attempting to sway the audience’s opinions about capital punishment. The movie presents both sides of the issue, and during parts of the movie, I felt sympathy for both the families of the victims, but also for Matthew Poncelet. In presenting different views about capital punishment, the movie helps to facilitate conversation about the death penalty. I learned that Pennsylvania has the death penalty, but that it has not been used in years, and I also learned that usually, it costs taxpayers more for the government to carry out executions than for prisoners to be kept in jail for the rest of their lives.